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News you can use
CJI, Big Sandy and Chinook all like their chances at the Northern C
Big Sandy's Kody Strutz, right, tries to drive past CJI's Bryce Kammerzell during last Friday's 9C boys championship in Havre. Both the Hawks and Pioneers could be favorites at this week's Northern C in Great Falls.
Chinook's Levi Jensen, right, shoots during a 9C boys game last week in Havre. The Sugarbeeters are yet again in the Northern C.
With the District 9C boys basketball tournament now over, the top three teams have little time to rest as they begin preparation for the Northern C Divisionals at the Four Seasons Arena in Great Falls this week. As the three teams to make it out of the tough 9C, Chester-Joplin-Inverness, Big Sandy and Chinook have already shown this postseason are more than capable of making a run in divisionals.
After pulling out a nail-biter against Box Elder to finish third in the 9C, the Chinook Sugarbeeters (14-7) will begin divisionals on Wednesday with a game against Heart Butte (12-0). The undefeated Warriors clinched their spot in the Northern C as the District 10C tournament champions.
The Warriors have many players that can make an impact night in and night out. In their two games of the 10C tournament, Riley Reevis averaged 13.5 points a game. Frankie Calf Boss Ribs also played well averaging 13 points a contest, scoring 16 points in the title game against Dutton-Brady.
If the Sugarbeeters want to hand Heart Butte its first loss of the season, they will need their best players to continue to play well. In the 9C tournament, Oskar Pula led Chinook averaging 15.3 points a game. Toby Niederegger also played well in Havre this past weekend as he averaged 14.8 points a contest and scored 25 points against Box Elder in the consolation game to clinch a spot in divisionals. Along with their offense, Chinook head coach Chad Jones believes their defense will be key to making a run in Great Falls this week.
"We're going to use our defensive intensity to move forward into divisionals," Jones said. "It's going to be our defense and our leadership on the team."
Chinook will play Heart Butte Wednesday night at 5:30 p.m. at Four Seasons Arena in Great Falls. If the Sugarbeeters can win that game, they will face the winner of the game between Big Sandy (17-4) and Roy-Winfired (16-2) that takes place Thursday morning.
The Roy-Winifred Outlaws clinched their spot in the tournament after winning the District 8C boys basketball title iin Great Falls this past weeked. The Outlaws have several players that can make an impact on any given night. Shad Boyce led Roy-Winifred with 13 points a game during the title run. At districts, both Anthony DeMars and Brody Geer averaged 10.7 points a contest for the Outlaws.
The Big Sandy Pioneers placed second in the 9C after losing to CJI in the title game. While their offense was limited by the CJI defense, the Pioneers have several players that can light up for the scoreboard. At districts, Braydone Cline averaged 22.33 points for Big Sandy. Lane Demontiney can light it up after averaging 15.3 points a contest at districts. Kody Strutz could also lead the Big Sandy offense as he averaged 15 points a contest last week in Havre.
As the Pioneers head into the tournament, Big Sandy head coach Thomas Dilworth is confident that his team can make a run. In fact, he expects to make it to Saturday and encounter a familiar opponent.
"I think you'll see a 9C final this year. That's my guess," Dilworth said. "Hopefully it's us and (CJI) again, but we got to do our part."
Big Sandy will play Roy-Winifred to open the tournament Thursday at 9:30 a.m. at the Four Seasons Arena in Great Falls.
The CJI Hawks (17-3) enter the Northern C after winning the 9C title last week. They will not know their opponent until Thursday night as they have a bye to start the tournament. They will play the winner of the game between Sunburst (7-8) and Winnett-Grass Range (16-6) who play each other Wednesday night to begin the tournament.
The Sunburst Refiners qualified for divisionals after finishing third at the 10C tournament in Conrad last week. The Refiners were led to third by the likes of Josh Kearns who averaged 13.5 points a game and scored 23 in the consolation game against Cascade to advance to divisionals.
The Winnett-Grass Range Rams finished third at the District 8C boys basketball to make it to divisionals. At districts, Brady Bantz led the way for the Rams as he averaged 21 points a contest, including 24 points in the consolation game against Centerville to keep the season going. Walker Doman will look to continue his strong postseason after he averaged 15.3 points a game at districts.
On offense, the CJI Hawks were led by Blake Harmon at districts as he averaged 12.7 points a game. Kyle Harmon and Braden Mattson are also more than capable of leading the CJI offense on any given night. But the key to their district title last week was their stingy defense that limited the potent Big Sandy offense to only 33 points in the title game. After surviving the 9C as the top team, CJI head coach Jore Horel expects that to carry over into divisionals this week.
"We expect to do well," Horel said. "The 9C is tough and if you can jump out of the 9C, you can do good things at the divisional tournament."
Sunburst and Winnett-Grass Range will play each other Wednesday at 4 p.m. at the Four Seasons Arena in Great Falls. The winner of that game will play CJI Thursday at 5:30 p.m.
It should be a long and exciting week in Great Falls and whoever is left standing will have earned it. The semifinals will start Friday night and the consolation game will take place Saturday at 4 p.m. The Northern C Divisionals boys basketball championship game will then take place Saturday at 5:30 p.m. If needed, a challenge game would take place Monday at 3:30 p.m. Every team will be looking to be playing well into the week as only the top two teams get to advance to the State Class C tournament which will start March 9 at the Four Seasons Arena.
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