Fort Benton-Geraldine stampedes into semis

In its first appearance in the District 9C tournament, it took some time for Fort Benton-Geraldine to get its feet wet, but once the Longhorns did, the Turner Tornadoes simply couldn’t keep up.

The Tornadoes (8-11), who have had one of their best girls basketball seasons in recent memory, looked ready to pull an upset in the first round of the 9C tournament Wednesday at the HHS gymnasium in Havre, trailing just 22-19 at halftime to FB-G. But thanks to a dominant third-quarter, the Longhorns (14-4) cruised to a 61-36 victory, earning themselves a spot in the semifinals tonight against Chester/J-I at 8:30. The winner will earn a berth in the 9C championship game Friday night and clinch a spot in the Northern C divisional tournament next week in Great Falls.

“In the second half, the girls really came out and played,” Fort Benton-Geraldine head coach Cassie Scheffelmaier said. “We missed a lot of layups in the first half and in the second half, we came out and finished. We just didn’t quit, we came out and played more aggressive, got more rebounds and played good defense in the second half.”

Ella Billmayer did her best to keep the Tornadoes in contention early, and after scoring nine first-quarter points FB-G led just 11-9 at the end of the opening stanza. Billmayer scored five more points in the second quarter as Turner continued to hang around, and when Kristina Conlan buried a 3-pointer from the corner in the final minute of the half, the Tornadoes trailed just 20-19. Yet, Makae Nack scored a key layup as time expired in the second to extend the FB-G lead to three at 22-19 at half.

However, in the third quarter, everything changed. Nack scored a couple quick buckets in the third to push FB-G’s lead to 26-21 and then, after a 2-pointer from Cassidy McCarthy, Nack knocked down a triple that gave the Longhorns a 31-21 lead with 5:41 left in the third.

Just 13 seconds later, McCarthy, who led FB-G with 19 points, made a triple of her own, her third of the game and suddenly, thanks to a 12-2 run, the Longhorns had opened up a 34-21 lead.

“We knew that we had beat Turner before, but that we couldn’t take that for granted,” McCarthy said. “Our coach got on us at halftime for not playing like we can, but we were just looking to score and get the ball inside and we were shooting when we were open and driving and just playing better.”

Throughout the third, the Longhorn-Tigers continued to take control of the game and when McCarthy hit a long two with 2:51 remaining in the period, FB-G led 42-27. By the end of the third, the lead was stretched to 50-27 as the Longhorn-Tigers ended the first eight minutes of the second half on a 10-0 run.

From that point, the rout was on and the Tornadoes were never able to get back into the game. Turner, which finished the season in sixth place in the 9C standings will look to keep its season alive today when it faces Hays-Lodge Pole this morning.

“All year the third quarter has been our nemesis,” Turner head coach Jeff Nix said. “Earlier when we played them we gave up 24 and tonight we gave up 28. We have get over that one quarter hump.”

Despite the loss, Turner got an outstanding effort from Billmayer who scored a game-high 21 points. Rylee Conlan added seven. McCarthy led FB-G with 19 but three others scored in double figures as Coya Nack had 14, Makae Nack had 12 and Katie Witt had 10.

The Longhorns will be looking to lock up a berth at divisionals, which is set to begin next Wednesday in Great Falls. Because the 9C will send three teams to the Northern C tournament this season, the winner of FB-G and C/J-I are assured of advancing beyond the 9C with a win. The game will tip-off at 8:30 tonight inside the HHS gymnasium.

“We need to play good offensively and score against (C/J-I’s) zone,” Scheffelmailer said. “And then we need to shut down their players. That last two times we have played them, we put them on the free-throw line too much, so we have to be more disciplined.”

Fort Benton-Geraldine 61, Turner 36

Turner 9 10 8 9 – 36

FB-G 11 11 28 11 – 61

Turner – Ella Billmayer 6-11 8-14 21, Melaine Watkins 1-5 0-0 2, Rennay Watkins 0-3 1-2 1, Raegen Conlan 1-5 0-0 2, Kristina Conlan 1-3 0-0 3, Rylee Conlan 2-9 2-2 7. 11-37 11-18.

FB-G – Katie Witt 4-9 2-4 10, Hannah Pimperton 1-4 0-0 2, Madison Scumacher 0-0 1-2 1, Alia Evans 0-2 1-2 Coya Nack 4-6 6-10 14, Makae Nack 5-11 1-2 12, Cassidy McCarthy 7-17 2-4 19, Ally Poindexter 0-2 2-2 4.

Halftime: FB-G 22, Turner 19. 3-pointers: FB-G 4-12 (McCarthy 3, Makae Nack), Turner 3-12 (Billmayer, Kristina Colon, Rylee Conlan). Fouls: Turner 20, FB-G 19. Fouled out – none.