Ryan Divish
Havre Daily News Sports Editor
rdivish@havredailynews.com
Teams from around the area took some time out of their conference schedules to partake in some tournament action on Saturday. There was still a handful of conference matches on Friday night.
In Rudyard, the North Star Knights had little trouble with the Box Elder Bears, scoring a 25-10, 25-15, 25-14 win. The Knights got six kills and four aces from Natasha Dyrland and six kills, a dig and a block from Tia Pester in the win.
The Big Sandy Pioneers improved their record to 8-2 with a big 28-26, 27-25, 25-15 win over the Valier Panthers. Shersteen Cline had a solid match for Big Sandy, racking up 12 kills, five aces and two blocks. Kacy Herron added 12 assists and Sarah Yirsa had 11 digs in the win.
Aisha Snyder led Valier with nine kills, five assists, 12 digs and two aces.
Elsewhere, the Chinook Sugarbeeters maintained control of second-place in the 6C with a 25-19, 25-12, 25-16 win over the Rocky Boy Morning Stars in Chinook.
Kassie Dugan led the Beeters with 11 kills and three blocks. Dawn Kellam had nine digs and five aces, while Crystal Roseberry had 27 assists.
Rocky Boy was led by Loni Belcourt with five kills, two blocks and two aces. Rainbow Stump had 11 assists and Courtney St. Pierre added eight digs.
On Saturday, the Chester volleyball showcase featured some of the top teams in District 6C and District 7C, competing in round-robin pool play, followed by a single-elimination tourney.
District 6C proved to be the better of the two conference. The host Chester/J-I Hi-Line Hawks finished the best in Pool A with a perfect 4-0 record. Chinook finished the best in Pool B, also with a perfect 4-0 record.
"We really didn't play very well," said Chester/J-I head coach Joni Gordon. "We never really could get into a groove. We haven't had a game in a week and we've been battling some injuries and sickness."
The Hawks still were good enough to go undefeated in pool play that featured 35-minute games with the winner having the most total points. Chester/J-I defeated conference-foe Valier 44-36, Dutton-Brady 46-41, Geraldine 50-30 and Highwood 43-38. Chinook rolled past Great Falls Central, North Star, Sunburst and Belt.
"Chinook played really well," Gordon said. "They had a great tournament."
In the pool play finals, Chester/J-I looked much improved picking up a 25-16, 25-22 win over Great Falls Central, while Chinook knocked off Valier 25-17, 25-15, setting up an all District 6C championship match.
Chinook continued its strong play, cruising to a 25-13, 25-15 win.
"We played pretty well against Great Falls Central," Gordon said. "But we didn't play well at all against Chinook."
Still, the Hawks lead District 6C with a perfect 10-0 record and has only dropped a handful of games in all of their matches. It's pretty good considering all of the lineup shuffling Gordon has done.
"We haven't had a match where we've had all of our normal starters on the floor at once," Gordon said. "Our kids have done a good job of stepping up when we need them. But hopefully we get a little healthier because we are on the backside of the conference season."
FRIDAY
North Star def. Box Elder
25-10, 25-15, 25-14
Box Elder - no stats available
North Star - Kills 19 (Natasha Dyrland 6, Tia Pester 6), Assists 14 (Megan Warren 11), Aces 18 (Courtney Wendland 8, Natasha Dyrland 4), Digs 3 (Maia Aageson, Tia Pester, Courtney Wendland), Blocks 1 (Tia Pester).
Big Sandy def. Valier
28-26, 27-25, 25-15
Valier - Kills 20 (Aisha Snyder 9, Brandy Ahern 4), Assists 16 (Maranda Laverdure 7, Aisha Snyder 5), Aces 6 (Maranda Laverdure 6, Aisha Snyder 2), Digs 55 (Aisha Snyder 12, Ashley Breding 9), Blocks 12 (Brandy Ahern 7, Aisha Snyder 7).
Big Sandy - Kills 23 (Shersteen Cline 12), Assists 14 (Kacy Herron 12), Aces 20 (Shalayna Pearson 5, Shersteen Cline 5), Digs 34 (Sarah Yirsa 11), Blocks 6 (Shalayna Pearson 2, Shersteen Cline 2).
Chinook def. Rocky Boy
25-19, 25-12, 25-16
Rocky Boy - Kills 14 (Loni Belcourt 5), Assists 15 (Rainbow Stump 11), Aces 8 (Frances Eagleman 2, Loni Belcourt 2), Digs 30 (Courtney St. Pierre 8), Blocks 2 (Tori Belcourt 2).
Chinook - Kills 36 (Kassie Dugan 11), Assists 30 (Crystal Roseberry 27), Aces 16 (Dawn Kellam 5), Digs 52 (Georgia Barber 9, Dawn Kellam 9), Blocks 13 (Morgan Obie 3, Kassie Dugan 3).
SATURDAY
Chester Showcase tournament
Pool A
1. Chester/J-I 4-0; 2. Valier 3-1; 3. Dutton-Brady 2-2; 4. Highwood 1-3; 5. Geraldine 0-4.
Pool B
1. Chinook 4-0; 2. Great Falls Central 3-1; 3. North Star 1-3; 4. Sunburst 1-3; 5. Belt 1-3.
Pool Play
Chester/J-I def. Valier 44-36; Valier def. Sunburst 43-42; Chinook def. GF Central 50-36; Sunburst def. North Star 45-43; Dutton-Brady def. Geraldine 41-40; Chester/J-I def. Highwood 43-38; GF Central def. North Star 50-27; Chinook def. Belt 50-28; Dutton-Brady def. Highwood 44-38; Valier def. Geraldine 50-38. Chinook def. North Star 50-37; Highwood def. Geraldine 50-29; Chester/J-I def. Dutton-Brady 46-41; Valier def. Highwood 43-34; GF Central def. Belt 48-38; Chinook def. Sunburst 50-35; Valier def. Dutton-Brady 47-44; Chester/J-I def. Geraldine 50-30; GF Central def. Sunburst 50-31; North Star def. Belt 50-39.
Finals
Chester/J-I def. GF Central 25-16, 25-22; Dutton-Brady def. North Star 26-24, 22-25, 15-10; Chinook def. Valier 25-17, 25-15; Highwood def. Sunburst 25-21, 18-25, 15-12; Geraldine def. Belt 22-25, 25-22, 15-10.
Championship
Chinook def. Chester/J-I
25-13, 25-15.
GLAGOW INVITATIONAL
Pool A
Wolf Point 50, Glasgow 35; Sidney 50, Plentywood 26; Glasgow 50, Plentywood 47; Wolf Point 49, Sidney 43; Sidney 50, Glasgow 44; Plentywood 48, Wolf Point 41
Pool B
Malta 50, Poplar 25, Glendive 50, Harlem 27; Malta 50, Harlem 35; Glendive 50, Poplar 22; Poplar 50, Harlem 36; Malta 47, Glendive 40
Bracket play
Harlem def. Wolf Point 2-1; Glendive def. Glasgow 2-1; Sidney def. Poplar 2-0; Malta 2, Plentywood 0; Glasgow def. Wolf Point 2-0; Plentywood def. Poplar 2-0; Glendive def. Harlem 2-0; Sidney def. Malta 2-1; Plentywood def. Harlem 2-0; Glasgow def. Malta 2-0
Consolation
Plentywood def. Glasgow 2-1
Championship
Glendive def. Sidney 2-0
