Hawks soar to 9C title

It had been a long time coming, but the Chester-Joplin-Inverness Hawks can once again call themselves the champions of the District 9C boys basketball tournament.

The Hawks did it with a 38-33 win over Big Sandy Friday night at the Havre High Gymnasium.

“(This title) means a lot. This whole year we’ve been looking up at our banner and our last conference championship was 2007,” CJI’s Kyle Harmon said. “We wanted to put another one up there and we knew we had the talent to do it and coach knew we had the talent to do it, so we put our mind to it and got to it.”

The No. 1 seeded Hawks had the advantage through most of the game thanks to their sturdy defense. The Pioneers came into the game averaging 82 points a contest in the tournament. But on Friday, the CJI defense limited the Pioneers to 33 points and 31 percent shooting from the field.

“They play tough, man, they help each other a lot,” CJI head coach Joe Horel said about his team’s defense. “We defend as a team and that’s why we can do what we do.”

Both teams came out slow to start the game. It took just over three minutes of gametime before a Kyle Harmon floater got either team on the scoreboard. Braydon Cline then got the Pioneers on the scoreboard with a layup. The buckets did not help either team get in a rhythm as several minutes went by without another score.

In the last two-and-a-half minutes of the first, the Hawks finally found some momentum. A floater from Blake Harmon gave CJI the lead. Moments later, Bryce Kammerzell knocked down a jump shot. Late in the quarter, Blake Harmon grabbed an offensive rebound that he converted into a bucket. The Hawks also played strong defense as they did not allow the Pioneers to score the rest of the quarter, giving CJI an 8-2 lead.

Just over a minute into the second quarter, Lane Demontiney knocked down a 3-pointer for Big Sandy. Karson Pulst responded with a three of his own. After a Big Sandy free throw, Braden Mattson made a three to stretch the CJI lead to 14-6 halfway through the quarter.

With little time remaining, Big Sandy tried to create momentum heading into halftime. Cline knocked down a three to cut into the CJI deficit. After a score by Kyle Harmon, Wylee Snapp and Demontiney made a pair of baskets to cut the deficit to 16-13 with less than a minute left in the half. But a free throw and a layup from Blake Harmon gave the Hawks a 19-13 lead heading into halftime.

The Hawks continued to play well to start the second half. Halfway through the third quarter, the Hawks had stretched their lead to 30-19. The Pioneers were able to get some scores late in the quarter but CJI still had a 33-24 lead heading to the fourth.

The Pioneers came out with a vengeance to start the fourth quarter as they went on a 9-0 run. Cline got the run started with a three and Snapp scored a couple of buckets to tie the game, 33-33, halfway through the quarter.

After a few minutes without either team scoring, Blake Harmon made a floater and one free throw to give CJI the lead again. Down the stretch, the CJI defense held strong to hold on for the win.

“We just came back to our five-out offense and we just took it to them,” Blake Harmon said about the plays they made down the stretch. “Had a little bit of a drought there but we came out of it and pulled it off.”

“We got back in it but we didn’t finish,” Big Sandy head coach Thomas Dilworth said. “We had our opportunities. We didn’t finish because they’re a great basketball team.”

Blake Harmon led CJI with 13 points and eight rebounds. As a team, the Hawks shot 33.3 percent from the field. Cline led Big Sandy with 14 points on 6-for-16 shooting from the field and Demontiney scored 10 points in the loss.

Both the Hawks and Pioneers will now head to the Northern C Divisionals in Great Falls this week. As they head into the tournament as the newly crowned district champions, Kyle Harmon believes they can continue to make noise in the postseason.

“We have a lot of potential,” Harmon said. “We’re sure looking to go pretty far. We’re looking to get to that state spot.”

The CJI Hawks will begin the Northern C Divisionals in Great Falls Thursday at 5:30 p.m. The Big Sandy Pioneers will advance to the Northern C Divisionals to play Thursday at 9:30 a.m.

CJI 38, Big Sandy 33

CJI - 8 11 14 5 - 38

BS - 2 11 11 9 - 33

CJI - Blake Harmon 13, Karson Pulst 7, Braden Mattson 5, Kyle Harmon 5, Bryce Kammerzell 5, Nate Nelson 3.

Big Sandy - Braydon Cline 14, Lane Demontiney 10, Wylee Snapp 8, Kody Strutz 1.

3-pointers: CJI 3-16 (Nate Nelson 1, Braden Mattson 1, Karson Pulst 1), BS 4-19 (Lane Demontiney 2, Braydon Cline 2). Fouls: CJI 10, BS 21. Fouled Out: Kody Strutz, Wylee Snapp.

2022 Havre Daily District 9C Boys

All-Tournament Team

Blake Harmon, CJI, Braden Mattson, CJI, Kyle Harmon, CJI Bradyon Cline, Big Sandy, Lane Demontiney, Big Sandy, Toby Niederegger, Chinook Oskar Pula, Chinook, Gabe Saddler, Box Elder, Tyrus LaMere, Box Elder, Landis Arganbright, Fort Benton.

2022 Havre Daily District 9C Girls

All-Tournament Team

Kyla Momberg, Box Elder, Breanna Bacon, Box Elder, Angela Gopher, Box Elder, , Hallie Neibauer, Chinook, Bree Swanson, Chinook, Ashlee Wang, Fort Benton, Cloe Kalanick, Fort Benton, Alliya Pretty Paint, HLP, Kaytlyn Domire, North Star, Jayla Ramberg, CJI.