Bear Charge

If there is one game in the first round of the District 9C girls basketball tournament that always comes down to the wire, it's the matchup between the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds.

But, in the opening round of the 2015 9C tournament, it didn't turn out that way. On Wednesday afternoon, the fourth-seeded Box Elder Bears blew by the fifth-seeded North Star Knights, 58-30. The win pushed Box Elder into tonight's semifinal against No. 1 seed Chinook, while the Knights, who have played in the last three 9C finals, fell into this morning's loser-out game against Big Sandy.

"I am a little surprised by the margin," said Box Elder head coach Joel Rosette. "I thought this game would go right down to the end. But we were able to do some things with our pressure today. We really did exactly what we wanted to do."

Box Elder's pressure forced the Knights into 25 turnovers, and the Bears made North Star pay for those mistakes. But while Rosette may have been surprised by the end result Wednesday, Box Elder senior Alicia Wolf Chief wasn't.

"We were ready," Wolf Chief said. "We came out and played hard on defense and we kept it up."

Box Elder's defense was the difference early on.

Wolf Chief got things rolling with a 3-pointer, then Tia Russell and Leilani Gardipee scored on two straight steals, as the Bears raced out to a 9-0 lead. Alissa Borlaug finally got the Knights on the board with a trey at the three-minute mark, but the Bears finished the first quarter leading 13-4.

Mackenzie Hansen narrowed the gap for the Knights by opening the second stanza with a jumper, and Borlaug kept the margin at eight points with a triple at the 2:47 mark of the first half. However, Tyrah Gopher scored on a steal, which sparked a 9-0 Box Elder run to finish the first half, giving the Bears a commanding 32-15 lead.

"The big thing today was, we converted our layups today," Rosette said. "When we do that, we're pretty good. Some night we don't make them, but tonight was one of those days when we did."

And the Bears kept making layups. They started the second half on an 8-0 run and led 50-24 after three quarters. Borlaug, who had a big game for North Star, hit another three, and Sheridan O'Neil scored six points in the fourth period, but it wasn't enough as Box Elder just proved too strong in the end.

Russell paced a balanced Box Elder attack with 15 points, while Alyssa LaMere added 14 and Wolf Chief scored 12. With so many layups, the fast-paced Bears shot a stellar 46 percent from the field, while Wolf Chief knocked in two of Box Elder's three treys.

North Star (10-9) got a great effort from Borlaug, who scored and hit three triples. O'Neil added six points and six rebounds for the Knights, who will start the long climb back through the loser-out bracket this morning.

Meanwhile, the Bears (11-8) are playing in the semifinals. They'll take on Chinook tonight for a chance to reach Friday night's championship game, while also locking up a coveted spot in next week's Northern C. And while it won't be easy, the Bears are looking forward to tonight's opportunity.

"Chinook is tough," Rosette said. "They're really strong inside. "Rebounding will be big for us. We're going to have to limit them to one shot and rebound the ball. It's tough to do, but that's what it's going to take against them."

Tonight's semifinal between the Beeters and the Box Elder Bears will tip off at 7 inside the HHS gymnasium. The winner will face the winner of tonight's second semifinal between Chester/J-I and Fort Benton-Geraldine.

Box Elder 58, North Star 30

North Star 4 11 9 6 – 30

Box Elder 13 19 18 8 – 58

North Star – Mackenzie Hansen 2-16 0-2 4, Hali Kapperud 0-0 2-2 2, Tylynn Rettig 0-3 1-2 1, Alissa Borlaug 5-11 2-2 15, Sheridan O'Neil 2-6 2-6, 6, Chelsea Donaldson 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 10-44 7-14.

Box Elder – Leilani Gardipee 3-8 0-0 6, Tia Russell 5-7 0-0 15, Alicia Wolf Chief 3-7 4-4 12, Misty Baker 0-2 1-2 1, Alyssa LaMere 7-10 0-0 14, Tai Russell 1-1 0-0 3, Tyrah Gopher 3-6 0-0 6. Totals: 22-48 3-10 58.

Halftime: Box Elder 32-15. 3-pointers: Wolf Chief 2, Tai Russell 1, Borlaug 3. Fouls: Box Elder 13, North Star 12. Fouled out: None.