Box Elder Bears come back to win District 9C championship

On Saturday night at Havre High Gymnasium, the Box Elder Bears were looking to build on their strong season with a District 9C girls basketball championship. They struggled early as they fell behind to the Chinook Sugarbeeters but they were able to overcome a ten-point deficit in the second half to win, 56-51, and bring home the 9C trophy.

"It was a tough battle tonight. (Chinook) played great and they challenged us," Box Elder head coach Joel Rosette said. "I'm proud of the girls for battling back to championship form."

"I'm really happy," Box Elder's Kyla Momberg said. "We have three goals: First districts, then divisionals and then state. Just knowing that we finished one goal feels really nice."

The game got started with a layup from Angela Gopher to give Box Elder the lead. Moments later, Alexus Seymour knocked down a 3-pointer to give Chinook the lead. Bree Swanson and Hallie Neibauer then scored a pair of buckets to give the Sugarbeeters a 7-2 lead. But Momberg answered for the Bears with a three and a layup to tie the game.

Swanson knocked down a three to give the Sugarbeeters the lead again. Late in the quarter, Momberg made another three to tie the game. Mya Berreth answered for the Sugarbeeters as she made a three of her own in the closing seconds to give Chinook a 13-10 lead to end the quarter.

The Sugarbeeters opened the second quarter with a three from Britton Elliot to stretch the lead further. After Makaela Kelly scored for the Bears, Allison Powell and Berreth made a pair of baskets to give Chinook a 20-12 lead. Breanna Bacon tried to get the Bears some momentum with a bucket, but Seymour knocked down another three for the Sugarbeeters.

The Bears found some momentum with a 5-0 run over the next minute and a half. Momberg made a layup and one free throw to get things rolling and free throws from Gopher and Meiyah Sutherland cut the deficit to 23-19 with about three minutes left in the half.

Looking to take some momentum into halftime, the Sugarbeeters ended the half on an 8-2 run. Swanson got the run started with a layup. After Sutherland scored for the Bears, Torin Cecrle and Powell made a pair of buckets for the Sugarbeeters. Neibauer then knocked down a pair of free throws to give Chinook a 31-21 lead at the half. Chinook head coach Mike Jones believes his team played well in the first half because they listened to his pregame message.

"We came out and told the girls, 'We do a really nice job of playing and we had nothing to lose, nothing to be scared about," Jones said. "We told them, 'Don't play scared, there's nothing to be scared about. Just play your game,' and I think we did a heck of a job at that tonight."

The Sugarbeeters and Bears exchanged buckets through most of the third quarter. With about three minutes left in the quarter, the Sugarbeeters had held steady as they had a 37-27 lead. But over the final few minutes of the quarter, the Bears showed why they were the tournament's no. 1 seed.

Sutherland and Momberg got the run started with back-to-back threes. After Neibauer nailed a three to give Chinook a 40-33 lead, Bacon knocked down a three of her own. After a Chinook turnover, Annalise Johnson knocked down a three at the buzzer to cut the deficit to 40-39 heading to the fourth.

The Bears carried that momentum into the beginning of the fourth. Momberg got the frame started with a layup to give Box Elder the lead. A three by Bacon and another bucket from Momberg stretched the lead to 46-40 with about five minutes remaining. Momberg believes the team was motivated to go on this 13-0 run after they gathered themselves in the huddle during a timeout.

"Somebody said let's dig deep and play with heart and I think all of us heard that," Momberg said. "Once we heard that, we just got it together and that's when we felt we were going to make a run."

Berreth and Neibauer made some plays to cut the deficit to 48-46 with less than two minutes left. But the Bears made their free throws down the stretch to clinch the win. Momberg finished the game with 22 points as she shot 8-for-13 from the field and 3-for-5 from deep. Bacon also scored ten points to help lead Box Elder to victory.

"I just had confidence," Bacon said about her performance. "(Got to) have confidence in your shot and just follow through every time."

Neibauer led Chinook with 13 points while Swanson contributed 11 in the loss. Despite the loss, the Sugarbeeters' season will continue as they will head to the Northern C Divisionals this week.

The Bears and Sugarbeeters will not be the only 9C teams to be advancing to the Northern C Divisionals. In the tournament's consolation game on Saturday night, the Fort Benton Longhorns punched their ticket to Great Falls with a 45-40 victory over the Hays-Lodgepole Thunderbirds.

The Thunderbirds played well through most of the game as they took a 37-27 lead heading to the fourth quarter. But the Longhorns started the fourth quarter on a 12-0 run to take the lead. After HLP tied the game, the Longhorns retook the lead and held on for the win to qualify for divisionals. Coming back to win has been a theme for the Longhorns this season, so Saturday's win was no surprise to Fort Benton head coach Eddie Fultz.

"I hate to say it but we've been doing this for two weeks," Fultz said. "It's kind of been our MO to struggle in the first and third quarters and that was no different at tournament time."

Box Elder, Chinook and Fort Benton will all compete in the Northern C Divisionals in Great Falls beginning this Wednesday.

Fort Benton 45, HLP 40

HLP - 11 14 12 3 - 40

FB - 7 12 8 18 - 45

HLP - Alliya Pretty Paint 17, Jaedyn Chandler 9, Nashone Shambo 6, Judemia Gray 2, Nina Fox 2, Tahtianna Gray 2.

FB - Ashlee Wang 20, Cloe Kalanick 16, Samantha Vielleux 4, Ky Nack 2, Casha Corder 1.

3-pointers: HLP 2-10 (Jaedyn Chandler 2), FB 2-10 (Ashlee Wang 1, Cloe Kalanick 1). Fouls: HLP 19, FB 10. Fouled Out: Jaedyn Chandler.

Box Elder 56, Chinook 51

BE - 10 11 18 17 - 56

CHI - 13 18 9 11 - 51

BE - Kyla Momberg 22, Breanna Bacon 10, Angela Gopher 8, Meiyah Sutherland 6, Mariah Arkinson 5, Annalise Johnson 3, Makaela Kelly 2.

CHI - Hallie Neibauer 13, Bree Swanson 11, Alexus Seymour 9, Mya Berreth 7, Britton Elliot 5, Allison Powell 4, Torin Cecrle 2.

3-pointers: BE 7-16 (Kyla Momberg 3, Breanna Bacon 2, Meiyah Sutherland 1, Annalise Johnson 1), CHI 7-17 (Alexus Seymour 3, Bree Swanson 1, Britton Elliot 1, Mya Berreth 1, Hallie Neibauer 1). Fouls: BE 14, CHI 19. Fouled Out: None.