Perfect History

BUTTE — It’s settled, the Box Elder boys basketball team is the best Class C team in the state of Montana. And as it turned out, it wasn’t even close.

And nearing the end of one of the greatest seasons in state history, at any level, there wasn’t much argument heading into the Class C state title game Saturday night at the Butte Civic Center. The District 9C Bears capped off an amazing 2013-2014 season with an incredible 74-54 win over the Westby-Grenora Thunder. It is the first state title for the Bears since the 1990 season and the second consecutive No. 2 finish for the Thunder.

Box Elder also finished the season with a flawless 26-0 record, following up a conference title, district title, and divisional title with their first state title in 24 years. The Bears also defeated every Class C opponent that stood in their way this season by double-digits.

“You don’t get to two state title games without being a great ball club,” Box Elder head coach Jeremy MacDonald said. “And Westby-Grenora is a great ball club, they are championship-caliber and they gave us everything we wanted tonight. They are well-coached and they knew what we wanted to do and how we wanted to play. They did a good job of trying to take away our strengths in the first half, but it is hard to do to us for a full 32 minutes. We are deep, aggressive and we just kept attacking.”

Senior Thomas Parisian kept his composure and helped lead the charge with his 10 points.

“That was a close first half,” Parisian said. “They were a good team. But coach talked about mental focus, we were up, we had a one-point lead, so we just had to keep our focus and attack the basket.”

The second half has proven to be a launch pad for the Bears this year. And facing a talented Thunder team, the third quarter couldn’t come fast enough in a game that saw four ties and six lead changes.

A Thunder free throw knotted the game up at 30-30 to start the second half. And even after a Parisian bucket put the Bears up 32-30 on the ensuing possession, Thunder star Walker Wilson drained a 3-pointer to retake the lead at 33-32 at the 5:57 mark in the third. Following the Wilson trey, Randall Gardipee opened the floodgates for the Bears with a two-point field goal. The Bears flipped a switch and it was game on for the aggressive, overpowering, run-and-gun Box Elder squad that never looked back.

The Bears closed out the third frame with a 14-5 run. After Gardipee’s bucket gave Box Elder a 34-33 lead, Lonnie Plain Bull Jr. hit a short jumper and Brandon The Boy drained a triple to boost the Bears’ lead to 39-33 with 4:10 left to play in the frame. Daulton Holecek answered and kept the Thunder close with his second trey of the night just seconds later, but Gardipee took over again, this time scoring seven points in the final 3:30 to give the Bears a 48-38 lead heading into the final frame. Jerrod Four Colors also hit a bucket in the Bears’ third quarter run.

Gardipee took some jumpers early, but heavily relied on his post game to boost the Bears down the stretch. His size advantage over the opposing guards led to a 10-for-14 display from the field.

“We have a size advantage and we used that,” MacDonald said. “We know Randal is one of our most efficient post players. Usually he tells us he wants to go inside so we just tell him to go to work down there. He shoots a great percentage, he has a great head fake, and he has a great step-through move and spin move. It is tough to know what he is going to do and that makes him hard to defend. He had some good looks at the rim and he finished.”

“I was watching them in warm ups and I noticed how small they were,” Gardipee said. “So I knew I could take them to the post. Their smaller guards couldn’t guard me and if they tried to double, I kicked it to our shooters; we have a lot of shooters. Coach said we had the size advantage, so we used that.”

With 1:34 left in the fourth quarter coach MacDonald unloaded the bench with a 68-51 lead.

After controlling the final moments of the third quarter the Bears did more of the same in the final eight minutes. After an 18-point third, the Bears ran away with the title with 26 points in the fourth. The Thunder climbed within eight on two free throws by Cooper Olson to start the fourth quarter, but back-to-back treys by Clayton Morsette Jr. and Gardipee got the Bears out and running once again. The 14-point Box Elder lead never dipped into single digits again, and the result was an impressive 20-point victory in the final game of the season.

“That just shows the depth and talent of this team,” MacDonald said. “We can run guys out there and we can always have five guys out there that can put the ball in the hoop. Hard work in the gym, hard work in the weight room, and making good decisions off the court pays off.”

Not too many teams have tested the Bears this season, but Westby-Grenora went blow for blow with Box Elder in the first half.

And while the Bears managed to hold a slim 30-29 lead at intermission, the Thunder held the lead for most of the first half. A Morsette Jr. trey following Parisian’s game opening layup lifted the Bears to a 5-2 lead. But the Bears’ shots just weren’t falling when they needed them too the most in the first two quarters. And to make things worse, the Bears defense wasn’t showing to be effective like it has been all season long. The Thunder committed just six turnovers in the opening half and got 12 points from all over the floor by Wilson.

Box Elder turned on the full court pressure four minutes into the game, but the Thunder handled it well early.

“Westby-Grenora handled the pressure very well in the first half,” MacDonald said. “And we just didn’t close out on the shooters quick enough and we let them get set. They knocked down some big shots. But we made some adjustments in the second quarter, we started to disrupt them a little bit more and disrupt their ball handlers, and we really started to wear on them.”

Both teams had six turnovers in the first half, but fortunately for the Bears, they have multiple athletes who can spark a turnaround.

This time it was Plain Bull Jr. who drilled two three-bombs in just under a two minute span to cut the Thunder lead to 27-26 with 1:25 left in the second quarter. Morsette Jr. and Gardipee combined for four more points in the final one minute of first half action as the Bears took an emotional one-point lead into the locker room. Plain Bull Jr. had two big 3-pointers late in the half, but the Bears didn’t shoot that well. They were 13-of-29 from the field and just 3-of-10 from behind the 3-point arc. Westby-Grenora kept pace early with an 11-of-24 showing from the field and 3-of-7 showing from behind the arc in the first half.

“We were just 3-for-10 from outside at the half,” MacDonald said. “But his threes were huge. We needed a little bit of momentum and we got that going into the half with a one-point lead. That was key, those shots were key.”

Gardipee had nine points in the first half, but finished with a game-high 28 in his tournament MVP finale. He was 10-of-14 from the field and also had six rebounds as he led the Bears in scoring all season long. Morsette Jr. finished with 13 points and a team-high five assists and team-high eight rebounds, while Parisian and Plain Bull Jr. finished with 10 points each. The Boy also grabbed five points and four assists, while Four Colors scored four.

“This team will be talked about for years down the road,” The Boy said. “I think we can compete with Class B, Class A, and Class AA teams, that is my opinion. We were very well-prepared by coach MacDonald and coach White. We watched a lot of film, we ran our drills hard, and everything paid off. We always knew we could be a run-and-gun team and coach got us here.”

The Bears also outrebounded the Thunder 36-21 and finished the game shooting over 55 percent from the field.

Getting into the championship game meant the Bears had to get through Fairview first in the semifinals. Box Elder did that with ease, winning 77-54 Friday.

Again, the Bears ran away from a close game.

The Bears led 20-13 after the first quarter, but Fairview kept pace with Box Elder in a 13-13 second quarter. But as the game progressed the Bears got hot. Totaling 45 points in the final 16 minutes, Fairview’s 28 only put them further behind down the stretch.

Gardipee led the Bears with 23 points, hitting nine field goals and four free throws, but Parisian added 14 to help carry the load. The Boy and Plain Bull Jr. also scored nine points each, while Jake Jones added another six. The Bears were 28-of-51 from the field.

It was a great season for the Bears who finished 26-0 for the first time in school history and also won just the second state title in school history, the first in 24 years.

“This is great, it is the most amazing feeling in the world right now,” Plain Bull Jr. said surrounded by friends and family. “This really is the greatest feeling in the world right now.”

STATE CHAMPIONS AND A PERFECT 26-0!

Box Elder 74, Westby-Grenora 54 (1st)

Westby-Grenora 18 11 9 16 -54

Box Elder 14 16 18 26 - 74

Westby-Grenora – Parker Westgrard 1-5 0-0 2, Cooper Olson 6-11 5-6 19, Thomas Field 4-11 2-4 10, Walker Wilson 5-10 3-4 15, Traycer Wilson 1-1 0-0 2, Daulton Holecek 2-10 0-0 6, Allan Ekness 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 19-49 10-14.

Box Elder – Brandon The Boy 2-6 0-0 5, Clayton Morsette Jr. 5-10 0-0 13, Randall Gardipee 10-14 6-7 28, Thomas Parisian 5-8 0-0 10, Lonni Plain Bull Jr. 4-11 0-0 10; Tristan Bernard 1-1 0-0 2, Ryan Gardipee 1-1 0-0 2, Jerrod Four Colors 2-2 0-0 4, Pernell Morsette 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 30-54 6-7.

Total fouls - Westby-Grenora 11, Box Elder 13. Fouled out – None. Three pointers - Westby-Grenora 6-19 (Westgrard 0-4, C. Olson 2-5, W. Wilson 2-2, Holecek 2-8); Box Elder 8-20 (The Boy 1-3, Morsette Jr. 3-7, Randall Gardipee 2-3, Plain Bull Jr. 2-6, Morsette 0-1. Rebounds -- Westby-Grenora 21 (Field 6); Box Elder 36 (Morsette Jr. 8). Assists – Westby-Grenora 6 (Field 2); Box Elder 14 (Morsette Jr. 5). Turnovers – Westby-Grenora 13 (C. Olson 4, Field 4); Box Elder 16 (Plain Bull Jr. 5). Steals – Westby-Grenora 9 (C. Olson 3, Holecek 3); Box Elder 6 (Plain Bull Jr. 2). Blocks – Westby-Grenora 1 (C. Olson 1); Box Elder 1 (Four Colors 1).

Box Elder 77, Fairview 54 (sf)

Fairview 13 13 7 21 - 54

Box Elder 20 12 15 30 - 77

Fairview – Pat Hardy 4-8 4-6 12, Ben Hardy 2-6 2-4 6, Justin Bieber 3-15 2-2 11, Alex Taylor 1-3 0-0 2, Monte Cayko 6-18 1-4 13, Laden Livings 0-0 2-2 2, Sean Murphy 1-1 0-0 2, Jon Lebsock 1-2 1-4 3, Tanner Reynolds 1-2 0-0 3. Totals: 19-55 12-22.

Box Elder – Brandon The Boy 3-6 3-5 9, Clayton Morsette Jr. 1-5 3-4 5, Randall Gardipee 9-14 4-4 23, Thomas Parisian 6-9 2-5 14, Lonni Plain Bull Jr. 4-7 0-0 9, Will Ketchum 0-2 0-0 0, Tristan Bernard 1-1 0-0 2, Jake Jones 1-2 4-4 6, Ryan Gardipee 1-1 0-0 3, Jerrod Four Colors 1-2 2-3 4, Quinn Baker 1-1 0-0 2, Slayte Duran 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 28-51 18-25.

Total fouls – Fairview 18, Box Elder 18. Fouled out – Taylor, Parisian. Three pointers – Fairview 4-18 (P. Hardy 0-1, Bieber 3-9, Cayko 0-7, Reynolds 1-1); Box Elder 3-11 (The Boy 0-1, Morsette Jr. 0-2, Randall Gardipee 1-2, Plain Bull Jr. 1-2, Ketchum 0-1, Jones 0-1, Ryan Gardipee 1-1, Duran 0-1). Rebounds – Fairview 33 (B. Hardy 12); Box Elder 35 (Parisian 10). Assists – Fairview 5 (b. Hardy 2, Cayko 2); Box Elder 7 (The Boy 1, Morsette Jr. 1, Randall Gardipee 1, Plain Bull Jr. 1, Ketchum 1, Jones 1, Baker 1). Turn overs – Fairview 22 (P. Hardy 4, B. Hardy 4); Box Elder 19 (Plain Bull Jr. 5); Steals – Fairview 10 (B. Hardy 2, Bieber 2, Reynolds 2); Box Elder 7 (The Boy 2, Morsette Jr. 2). Blocks – Fairview 1 (B. Hardy 1); Box Elder 4 (Morsette Jr. 2).