THE BEARS ARE BACK

After several days of great basketball games, the District 9C Boys Basketball Tournament finally wrapped up at Havre High Gymnasium Saturday night with its championship game. In the final game of the weekend, the Box Elder Bears got rolling to defeat Chester-Joplin-Inverness, 80-56, to win the District 9C. The Bears had suffered some tough losses in the 9C tournament before this year, so finally claiming that title is a relief.

"It feels great. We've had some heartbreak here the last few seasons coming up a little bit short," Box Elder head coach Jeremy MacDonald said. "Finally got to break through here and couldn't be more proud of these boys and the work that they put in."

"It feels great that the dream has come true," Box Elder senior Skylar Walker said. "I'm just at a loss for words."

The Bears got rolling on offense as they shot 38.8 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from the 3-point line. Tracen Jilot led Box Elder with 36 points on 14-for-26 shooting from the field and 5-for-8 shooting from deep. Matthias Blackbird also made an impact with 18 points on 8-for-17 shooting.

"CJI is a good team but we just played our style of ball and got the ball up and down the court," Blackbird said about the Bears' offensive performance.

The CJI Hawks shot 41.5 percent from the field but on 27 less shots than the Bears. Blake Harmon led CJI with 23 points on 8-for-18 shooting while Karson Pulst recorded 14 points on 6-for-12 shooting.

The Bears got rolling early as they jumped out to a 9-0 lead to start the game. After Blackbird scored the first two baskets of the game, Jilot knocked down a three and a jump shot to keep it rolling.

The Hawks found a little momentum as they cut the deficit to 13-7 late in the first quarter. But Jilot responded with a personal 5-0 run to give Box Elder an 18-7 lead to end the quarter. The Bears then started the second quarter on a 5-0 run to push their lead to 24-7. As the Bears got their offense going, MacDonald acknowledged how the defense created opportunities for the Bears.

"Our pressure is designed to create some offense and we were able to do that," MacDonald said. "Our guys came in, gave us good minutes off the bench and just a good all around team effort."

The Hawks eventually got their offense going as they tried to fight their way back into the contest. Late in the half, the Hawks kept themselves in the game as they only trailed 39-26. But Jilot scored a bucket at the buzzer to give Box Elder a 41-26 lead heading into the break.

The Bears started the third quarter on a 6-0 run to stretch their lead to 47-26. The Hawks were unable to make any meaningful headway on the scoreboard as the Bears pulled away for the victory.

Both Box Elder and CJI will advance to the Northern C Divisional in Great Falls this week. This will be the third straight trip to divisional for the CJI Hawks. Meanwhile, this will be the first trip for the players on the Box Elder team, so they look forward to finally playing on the big stage.

"(I look forward) to playing there after four years," Walker said. "It feels good to get in there and hopefully we'll make it to the championship there next Saturday."

The Box Elder boys basketball team will play Cascade this Thursday at 12:30 p.m. at the Great Falls Four Seasons Arena. The CJI boys basketball team will face Roy-Winifred this Thursday at 7 p.m.

Box Elder 80, CJI 56, Championship

BE - 18 23 18 21 - 80

CJI - 7 19 12 18 - 56

BE - Tracen Jilot 36, Matthias Blackbird 18, Tuarie Stiffarm-Rosette 10, Dreydon Anderson 6, Skylar Walker 4, Tavory Whitford 3, Julian Henry 2, King Ragged Robe 1.

CJI - Blake Harmon 23, Karson Pulst 14, Nate Nelson 6, Ryland St. John 4, Braden Mattson 4, Adam Grammar 3, Cooper Streit 2.

3-pointers: Tracen Jilot 5, Matthias Blackbird 2, Karson Pulst 2, Blake Harmon 2, Dreydon Anderson 1, Tavory Whitford 1. Fouls: BE 14, CJI 10. Fouled Out: None.