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Bears beat Manhattan Christian for the Class C boys state championship
Box Elder's Dreyden Anderson pushes past Manhattan Christian's Christian Triemstra for two points in the Class C state title game Saturday at Four Seasons Arena in Great Falls.
Box Elder's Matthias Blackbird shoots a 3-pointer over Manhattan Christian's Rance Hamilton in the Class C state title game Saturday at Four Seasons Arena in Great Falls.
The rebirth of Box Elder boys basketball is now complete.
Saturday night in Great Falls, in front of thousands of adoring fans, the Box Elder boys basketball team captured the Class C boys state championship with a 68-64 win over defending state champion Manhattan Christian.
The win capped a perfect season in Box Elder, and was the school's fourth state championship in boys basketball, and the third under head coach Jeremy MacDonald.
"They're hard workers, a great group of kids, great families," MacDonald said to 406 Sports after the game at the Four Seasons Arena. "Our community loves basketball and we talk about how basketball is kind of a modern-day warriors for us. We represent that tradition well. I think our community is proud of us. I think we made a lot of people happy."
Led by star junior Tracen Jilot, who scored 34 points, Box Elder was able to hold off the Eagles all night.
Leading 20-18 at the end of a tight first quarter, Box Elder saw the Eagles go on a 12-8 run in the second quarter to trail 30-28 at halftime. Jilot however, wouldn't let the Bears falter. At the end of the third quarter,. Jilot scored eight points and had three steals in a flurry that included a huge dunk as the Bears outscored the Eagles 19-12.
From there, it was a back and forth final stanza, but Box Elder would never let the Eagles get the lead back as Jilot and the Bears roared too their first state championship since 2016.
"That's one of the all-time great championship performances," MacDonald said to 406 Sports about Jilot. "I've never seen a guy put the ball in the hoop the way he does. That sequence that last minute of the third quarter was huge. And sometimes that's what it takes. Crowd was energized; that was big basketball."
"I can't really describe it in words," Jilot said to 406 Sports. "This is something I've dreamed about since growing up watching Brandon play. I just feel really happy and excited right now. We've been focused on getting this community back to the state championship."
As great as Jilot was on Saturday night, he didn't fend off the Eagles by himself. Manhattan Christian was going for a third straight state title, but they were denied by Box Elder's great defense, a trademark of all of MacDonald's championship teams. Also, Tuarie Stiffarm-Rosette added 11 points and Matthias Blackbird added ninne, while Mason Venema scored 26 points for the Eagles, who finished the season 26-2.
The Bears meanwhile, finished off their perfect season with a 26-0 record, as well as a trio of championships. Box Elder won the District 9C championship, the Northern C championship and the state championship over the course of the last month.
And, as MacDonald knows, it means the world, not just to him, his coaches and players, but to en entire community.
"I told these boys they're heroes for these little guys. They were little guys when we won it in '14 and '16, so if they're inspiring younger folks to work hard and have a good attitude toward the game of basketball, hey, this is all a blessing," MacDonald said to 406 Sports. "We had to put a great 32 minutes together and those boys did it."
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