Hawks overcome halftime deficit to defeat Chinook in semifinals

After making it to the Northern C Divisionals as the no. 3 seed from the 9C last year, the Chester-Joplin-Inverness Hawks were looking to make another run this year. They got the District 9C boys basketball tournament started with a win over Turner on Wednesday. And on Thursday night at Havre High Gymnasium, No. 1 seed CJI overcame a halftime deficit to win, 59-46, against No. 4 seed Chinook in the semifinals.

"The kids played hard," CJI head coach Joe Horel said. "Lots of credit to Chinook. They fought right to the bitter end but our kids, they came out, they defended well, got into a little foul trouble but they stuck with it. All around good effort by the boys."

The game started with CJI and Chinook exchanging buckets. Blake Harmon eventually found a rhythm as he scored two straight buckets to give CJI a 6-2 lead. After Oskar Pula scored for Chinook, Harmon nailed a 3-pointer to stretch the lead.

Pula continued to play well as he went on a personal 6-0 run to give Chinook a 10-9 lead late in the first quarter. But the Hawks were able to score again to take an 11-10 lead to end the opening quarter.

The Sugarbeeters and Hawks exchanged scores to start the second quarter, leaving the game tied, 13-13, with just over five minutes remaining before halftime. Looking to take momentum, Chinook took the lead with an 8-0 run.

But the Hawks were able to end the half on an 8-3 run. A three from Nate Nelson in the closing moments cut the deficit to 24-21 heading to halftime. That momentum carried over after the break as the Hawks started the third quarter on an 11-0 run. Blake Harmon led the way for the Hawks as he scored eight points during this stretch. His layup and one free throw gave the Hawks a 32-24 lead after trailing at the half.

"That was kind of the difference in the game," Horel said about the start to the third. "The boys came out, they executed well, they shot well and they defended well."

"They just had more momentum coming out of the half than we did," Chinook head coach Chad Jones said. "Those first three minutes are always critical and they seemed to capitalize on that a little better."

Over the rest of the third quarter, the Hawks kept the Sugarbeeters at bay to take a 40-30 lead to the fourth quarter. The Sugarbeeters tried to get back in the game in the fourth. The Sugarbeeters were able to cut the deficit to 48-40 with two minutes remaining, but that was as close as they could get it as CJI held on to win.

Kyle Harmon finished the game with 17 points as he shot 5-for-11 from the field and 6-for-10 from the line. His brother Blake Harmon scored 14 points while Mattson contributed ten points to the win. Toby Niederegger finished the night with 17 points for Chinook while Pula scored 15 in the losing effort.

The Sugarbeeters now head to the consolation bracket. If they want to keep their hopes of a Northern C Divisional berth alive, they will first need to defeat Hays-Lodge Pole in a loser-out game. The Sugarbeeters have defeated HLP twice this year but Jones knows they will be a tough opponent.

"They're a tough team, they come to play like everybody else," Jones said. "We think we can beat them again. We're two for two on them. We got to take care of their shooters and I think we can get that done."

With the win, the Hawks have at least clinched a berth in next week's Northern C Divisionals. Before then, they will play in the championship game tonight against Big Sandy. If the Hawks want to take home a district championship, Horel believes they just need to keep things rolling.

"They got to play just exactly like they did today," Horel said. "We're familiar enough with them. We got to come execute and bring the energy and then hopefully we'll like the outcome."

CJI will play Big Sandy in the District 9C boys basketball championship game tonight at 8:30 p.m. at HHS Gymnasium. Chinook played HLP in a loser-out game this morning.

CJI 59, Chinook 46

CHI - 10 14 6 16 - 46

CJI - 11 10 19 19 - 59

CHI - Toby Niederegger 17, Oskar Pula 15, Braden Eoff 9, Brenden Fetter 3, Levi Jensen 1, Hunter Molyneaux 1.

CJI - Kyle Harmon 17, Blake Harmon 14, Braden Mattson 10, Karson Pulst 9, Nate Nelson 6, Bryce Kammerzell 3.

3-pointers: CHI 5-17 (Toby Niederegger 3, Braden Eoff 2), CJI 5-9 (Braden Mattson 2, Nate Nelson 1, Kyle Harmon 1, Blake Harmon 1). Fouls: CHI 23, CJI 16. Fouled Out: Brenden Fetter, Oskar Pula.

Loser-out Games:

Fort Benton 56, Turner 48

TUR - 13 13 8 14 - 48

FB - 15 13 14 14 - 56

TUR - Ryan Doyle 22, Trent Billmayer 8, Carson Maloney 8, Charlie Calvert 5, Tate Beck 3, JR Brown 2.

FB - Landis Arganbright 23, Tim Lane 10, Jackson Schmele 10, Andrew Ballantyne 7, Jacob Giles 6.

3-pointers: TUR 5-18 (Trent Billmayer 2, Carson Maloney 2, Tate Beck 1), FB 1-11 (Jacob Giles 1). Fouls: TUR 22, FB 15. Fouled Out: Shay Humphreys, Andrew Ballantyne.

HLP 57, North Star 51

NS - 7 10 13 21 - 51

HLP - 19 14 12 12 - 57

NS - Garrett Spicher 14, Rhett Wolery 10, Gavin Clawson 10, Gavin Spicher 9, Ty Hansen 7, Michael Berg 1.

HLP - Tyshawn Shambo 24, Cash Messerly 12, Daniel Henry 9, Brandon Castillo 6, Devontae Sullivan 6.

3-pointers: NS 3-13 (Garrett Spicher 2, Gavin Spicher 1), HLP 1-17 (Devontae Sullivan 1). Fouls: NS 23, HLP 18. Fouled Out: Rhett Wolery, Tyshawn Shambo.