Bears, Hawks advance to 9C championship game

At Havre High Gymnasium Thursday, the District 9C Boys Basketball Tournament continued with its semifinal games.

With a chance to advance to the championship game and clinch a spot in the Northern C Divisional Tournament, the Box Elder Bears dominated in an 88-52 win over the Fort Benton Longhorns while the Chester-Joplin-Inverness Hawks survived in a 55-52 victory over the Turner Tornadoes.

Before the semifinals, Thursday started with the Big Sandy Pioneers defeating the HLP Thunderbirds, 78-66, in a loser-out game. With their season on the line, the Pioneers jumped out to a 19-15 lead in the first quarter. They maintained their advantage as they took a 42-31 lead into halftime.

The Thunderbirds tried to keep pace in the second half, but the Pioneers kept piling on the points to pull away for the win and stay alive in the tournament. Lane Demontiney had a monster game for Big Sandy with 45 points. Jacoby Ball led HLP with 35 points as the Thunderbirds ended their season with an overall record of 0-20.

On Thursday night, the No. 1 seed Box Elder Bears came out of their bye to open the tournament and defeated the Fort Benton Longhorns, 88-52. The Bears got rolling from the jump as they raced out to a 20-9 lead. They then piled it on to take a 39-23 lead into halftime.

In the second half, the Bears continued to play well to pull away for the win to advance to the championship game. Tracen Jilot and Tuarie Stiffarm-Rosette both scored 21 points to lead the way for Box Elder. David Olson led Fort Benton with 12 points, and his team will now head to the loser-out bracket.

Thursday ended with the CJI Hawks winning, 55-52, against the Turner Tornadoes. The Hawks got off to a hot start as they took a 20-10 lead in the first quarter. But the Tornadoes recovered to cut the deficit to 32-27 heading into halftime.

In the third quarter, the Hawks eked out a 41-32 lead to take into the fourth quarter. The Tornadoes attempted to come back in the final frame, but the Hawks held on for the win to advance to the championship game.

Karson Pulst led the way with 20 points for the Hawks. His teammates Ryland St. John and Elijah Sanders both scored 10 points in the winning effort. Ryan Doyle led Turner with 28 points in the loss. The Tornadoes will now head to the loser-out bracket to try to keep their season alive.

The District 9C Boys Basketball Tournament will wrap up today at HHS Gymnasium. In the loser-out bracket, the Fort Benton Longhorns and the Big Sandy Pioneers were set to play each other at 11 a.m. and then the North Star Knights and the Turner Tornadoes will face each other at 12:30 p.m. The winners of those games will face each other in the consolation game at 7 p.m. Box Elder and CJI will face each other in the District 9C championship game tonight at 8:30 p.m.

Big Sandy 78, HLP 66, LO

HLP - 15 16 15 20 - 66

BS - 19 23 16 20 - 78

HLP - Jacoby Ball 35, William Hughes 15, C. Cliff 7, Axel Swan 5, Avery Boe 2, H. Grant 2.

BS - Lane Demontiney 45, Ryder Galbavy 10, Karter Jurenka 9, Eyon Sherburn 7, Eli Dixon 5, Jaesun Yirsa 2.

Box Elder 88, Fort Benton 52, Semifinal

FB - 9 14 10 19 - 52

BE - 20 19 29 20 - 88

FB - David Olson 12, Kelton Vielleux 10, Eli Arganbright 6, Brock Grossman 6, Kellan Diekhans 4, Truman Giese 4, Spencer Molinario 3, Judah Miller 3, Brett Evans 3, Isaiah Smith 3.

BE - Tracen Jilot 21, Tuarie Stiffarm-Rosette 21, Matthias Blackbird 15, Dreyden Anderson 10, Walter Wolf Chief 4, Alex Four Colors 4, Tayden Colliflower 3, Jacob Whitford 3, Julian Henry 3, Kenny Helgeson 2, Timmy Rosette III 2.

CJI 55, Turner 52, Semifinal

CJI - 20 12 9 14 - 55

TUR - 10 17 5 20 - 52

CJI - Karson Pulst 20, Ryland St. John 10, Elijah Sanders 10, Nate Nelson 8, Adam Grammar 7.

TUR - Ryan Doyle 28, Carson Maloney 10, Tate Beck 9, Ty Beck 3, Trent Billmayer 2.