Chinook bounces back to take third

Because the new District 9C is allowed to send three teams to the Northern C divisionals, the championship game at the 9C tournament was not the only game with a lot on the line Saturday night.

Thanks to the third berth at divisionals, when Chinook and Chester/J-I met in the 9C consolation game Saturday inside the HHS gymnasium, the season of each team was on the line.

But, in the end, it was the more experienced Sugarbeeters that came out on top 67-59.

The Beeters (16-6), who clinched a spot at divisionals for the third time in four seasons, had to win a pair of games Saturday to do so following an overtime loss to Hays-Lodge Pole Friday night. Even against C/J-I, the Beeters trailed for most of the first half and needed a stellar 15-point fourth quarter from Lane Seymour to salt it away.

Yet it didn't matter how they got there, just that the Beeters survived and advanced to play at least two more games this basketball season.

"(Going back to divisionals) means everything to me," Chinook's Lane Seymour said. "My dad (Mike Seymour) is the coach of the team, and this is my last year getting to be with him so to be able to be with him for another week, it's indescribable."

While Seymour dominated the fourth quarter, he did anything but in the first three, mostly because he got in early foul trouble and picked up three fouls before the end of the first. As a result of that and some good shooting, the Hawks built a five-point lead that ended up being 16-13 after the first stanza.

"I didn't really do a lot early in the game," Seymour said. "But my teammates really picked it up for me. Those guys are my favorite people, they are just awesome."

In the second quarter, the lead changed hands three different times but by the half, C/J-I still led by three, 28-25. Chinook, without Seymour for much of the period, hung with the Hawks thanks to six points from sophomore Wade Schneider.

C/J-I went up five right away in the third on a score by Troy Harmon but the Beeters responded with an 11-0 run that included five points from Zach Schellin and two buckets from Ian McIntosh, the second giving the Beeters a 36-30 lead with 4:27 left in the stanza.

The Hawks kept battling though and trailed just 40-37 after a 2-pointer from Brandon Richter. But after a three-point play from Schneider, Chinook went up six heading to the fourth.

From there Seymour took over. He scored four times from the field and was 8-of-10 from the free-throw-line as he and the Beeters kept C/J-I at bay.

"I am just so proud of the way we played and so proud of our intensity, whatever you want to call it, we had it," Chinook head coach Mike Seymour said. "I am very, very proud."

Lane Seymour led the Beeters with 21 points, Schneider pitched in with 17 and Schellin had 11. Troy Harmon had 20 for the Hawks, while Cory Richter had 18 and Justin May had eight.

"Wade played like a man tonight, I am really proud of him," Mike Seymour said.

Chinook got into the consolation Saturday night by knocking off Fort Benton-Geraldine in loser-out action Saturday morning. The Beeters trailed briefly in the first quarter but led by six at the end of it and by 20 at halftime. In the end, the final was 58-31.

Chinook got 15 points from Seymour as well as 13 from Cody McCracken and 10 from Zach Schellin. But the big reason the Beeters won was their defense. No Longhorn scored in double figures. Ben Hulme had the most with eight and for the game FB-G shot just 27 percent from the field.

Also Saturday morning, the Hawks took on North Star in loser-out action and fell behind just once on their way to a 63-44 win over the Knights. The key for C/J-I was the third quarter, where the Hawks outscored the Knights 21-9.

Harmon scored a game-high 22 points for the Hawks, while May added 21. Payton Peterson had 12 for the Knights. Matthew Helmbrecht had 11.

Despite not qualifying for the divisional tournament this week in Great Falls, the Hawks can take solace in the fact that they played Box Elder as well as anyone in the tournament Friday night in the semifinals. The Hawks started the game 10-of-11 from 3-point range and Cory Ricther started six-for-six. At one point, C/J-I led by as many as 12 points in the second quarter. But, it wasn't meant to be and the Bears used a 21-8 run in the third quarter to come away with the 78-69 semifinal win.

Jerrod Four Colors finished the game with 21 points and 10 rebounds, while Clayton Morsette

Jr. finished with 14 points and 14 boards. Brandon The Boy also ended up with 14 points and five assists. May led the Hawks with 22, Cory Ricther had 21 and Harmon had nine.

In the other semifinal Friday night, Chinook was outlasted in overtime by Hays-Lodge Pole 56-53. The Beeters had an opportunity on the final possession of overtime to tie the game but a 3-pointer by Schellin fell short and Thunderbirds were on to divisionals.

Tyson Shambo led the way with 16 for HLP. Sterling White Cow also had 12 and Lance Strike had 10. Seymour had 17 for the Beeters, while McIntosh had 11 and McCracken had 10.

Before the semifinal games Friday, there was loser-out action between North Star and Big Sandy and thanks to 12 points from Payton Peterson and 10 from Willie Gilead the Knights advanced with a 55-38 victory. Kyle Strutz had 15 for the Pioneers. Levi Edwards had 11.

The other loser-out game Friday morning was between FB-G and Turner and in their first visit to the 9C tournament, the Longhorns at least came away with a win, knocking out the Tornadoes 61-44. Hulme had 21 points for FB-G. Toren Adreason had 14. Tristian Billmayer had 13 to lead the way for Turner.

Friday

Fort Benton-Geraldine 61, Turner 44 (lo)

Turner 10 12 14 8 – 44

FB-G 15 11 17 18 – 61

Turner – Cody Welsh 2-8 3-6 8, Eddie Harmon 2-3 2-2 7, Tyler Humphreys 2-7 0-0 6, Tristian Billmayer 3-8 6-8 13, Damian Schumacher 1-2 0-0 2, Brett Van Vulkenburg 1-9 4-4 6, Tracer Heillig 1-2 0-2 2. Totals: 12-36 15-25.

FB-G – Riley Kurt 5-11 0-0 10, Taylor Arganbright 2-5 2-4 7, Eli Toon 1-7 2-4 4, Ryan Briese 0-2 1-4 1, Ben Hulme 7-15 7-8 21, Andy Giles 1-2 0-0 2, Toren Andreasen 6-16 2-2 14, Braden Urion 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 23-61 14-24.

Halftime score: FB-G 26, Turner 22. 3-pointers: Turner 5-14 (Humphreys 2, Billmayer, Harmon, Welsch), FB-G 1-9 (Arganbrght). Fouls: FB-G 20, Turner 18. Fouled out – none.

North Star 55, Big Sandy 38 (lo)

North Star 11 17 12 15 – 55

Big Sandy 6 11 8 13 – 38

North Star – Cade Chivilceck 0-1 1-2 1, Willie Gilead 3-7 1-2 10, Gavin Spinler 3-7 2-4 9, Jimmy Snow 2-2 1-2 6, Payton Peterson 5-13 2-4 12, Devon Miller 3-3 1-1 7, Keevan Borlaug 2-3 0-1 4, Matthew Helmbrecht 3-9 0-0 6. Totals: 21-46 8-18.

Big Sandy – Levi Edwards 5-10 1-14 11, Eric Schwarzbach 2-5 0-0 4, Geno Menard 3-11 0-0 6, Kyle Strutz 6-14 1-2 15, Laurence Alderdice 1-5 0-0 2.

Box Elder 78, Chester/J-I 69 (sf)

C/J-I 25 18 8 13 – 69

Box Elder 18 22 21 17 – 78

C/J-I - Brandon Ricther 4-9 0-1 9, Brandon Theel 3-7 2-4 8, Troy Harmon 3-8 0-0 9, Cory Richter 7-13 1-4 21, Justin May 8-14 3-3 22. Totals: 25-51 6-12.

Box Elder – Brandon The Boy 5-9 2-2 14, Bodis Duran 2-4 0-1 5, Tristian Bernard 1-1 0-1 2, Clayton Morsette Jr. 5-18 4-8 14, Jake Jones 2-5 0-0 5, Jerrod Four Colors 8-9 4-4 21, Quinn Baker 3-5 4-5 10, Pernell Morsette 2-2 1-1 5, Shane Ketchum 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 29-55 14-21.

Halftime score: C/J-I 43, Box Elder 40. 3-pointers: C/J-I 13-24 (C. Richter 6, May 3, Harmon 3, B. Richter), Box Elder 6-21 (The Boy 2, Jones, Four Colors, Morsette, Duran). Fouls: C/J-I 18, Box Elder 15. Fouled out – none.

Hays-Lodge Pole 56, Chinook 53 OT (sf)

HLP 9 23 11 4 9 – 56

Chinook 15 13 7 12 6 – 53

HLP – Tyson Shambo 7-12 2-4 16, Damon Castillo 0-3 1-2 1, Lance Strike 3-9 4-4 10, Sterling White Cow 4-9 0-0 12, Frank Runs Above 4-9 1-1 9, Darnell Parisian 1-3 0-0 2, Tough Snow 2-4 2-2 6. Totals: 21-49 10-13.

Chinook – Lane Seymour 3-8 11-14 17, Ian McIntosh 4-7 1-2 11, Cody McCracken 4-14 2-2 10, Zack Schellin 3-9 1-2 9, Wade Schneider 0-2 1-2 1, Travis Hamilton 2-10 0-5 5. Totals: 16-50 16-22.

Halftime score: HLP 32, Chinook 28. 3-pointers HLP 4-11 (White Cow 4), Chinook 5-13 (Schellin 2, McIntosh 2, Hamilton). Fouls: HLP 18, Chinook 14. Fouled out – none.

Saturday

Chester/J-I 63, North Star 44 (lo)

North Star 13 6 9 16 – 44

C/J-I 14 11 21 17 – 63

North Star – Cade Chivilcek 0-0 2-2 2, Willie Gilead 2-9 0-0 6, Jimmy Snow 1-4 3-4 6, Gavin Spinler 1-6 0-0 2, Payton Peterson 5-12 2-4 12, Devon Miller 0-2 4-6 4, Matthew Helmbrecht 5-11 0-0 11, Thatcher Smith 0-0 1-2 1. Totals: 14-46 12-18.

C/J-I - Brandon Ricther 2-7 0-1 4, Bradee Hawks 1-2 2-3 4, Brandon Theel 2-4 1-5 5, Troy Harmon 8-13 3-3 22, Cory Richter 2-7 1-2 5, Justin May 10-14 1-1 21, Bruce Tempel 1-2 0-0. Totals: 26-52 8-17.

Halftime score: C/J-I 25, North Star 19. 3-pointers C/J-I 3-12 (Harmon 3), North Star 4-18 (Gilead 2, Snow, Smith). Fouls: C/J-I 16, North Star 15. Fouled out – none.

Chinook 58, Fort Benton-Geraldine 31 (lo)

FB-G 9 4 4 14 - 31

Chinook 15 18 12 13 – 58

FB-G – Riley Kurtz 1-3 0-2 2, Ty Hasbrouck 1-1 1-2 3, Jaydy Briese 0-0 1-2 1, Eli Toon 1-3 1-2 3, Sean Bronec 1-2 0-2 2, Ryal Briese 0-4 2-4 2, Ben Hulme 3-8 1-2 9, Andy Giles 1-2 0-1 3, Toren Andreasen 2-8 1-1 5, Braden Urion 0-3 2-2 2. Totals: 10-37 9-17.

Chinook – Lane Seymour 4-7 7-11 15, Kyer Johnson 0-2 2-2 2, Ian McIntosh 2-10 0-2 4, Brandon Morneau 0-0 1-5 1, Cody McCracken 6-8 1-3 13, Zack Schellin 5-13 0-0 10, Kyle McMaster 0-0 2-2 2, Travis Hamilton 3-9 0-0 8, Wade Schneider 1-4 1-2 3. Totals: 21-55 14-30.

Halftime score: Chinook 33, FB-G 13. 3-pointers Chinook 2-9 (Hamilton 2), FB-G 2-9 (Hulme, Giles). Fouls: FB-G 22, Chinook 15. Fouled out – none.

Chinook 67, Chester/J-I 59 (3rd)

C/J-I 16 12 9 22 – 59

Chinook 13 12 18 24 – 67

C/J-I – Brandon Richter 4-9 2-2 10, Brandon Theel 1-2 1-4 3, Javin Miles 1-2 0-2 2, Troy Harmon 8-17 1-2 20, Cory Richter 6-7 2-4 16, Justin May 4-9 0-0 8. Totals: 24-27 6-14.

Chinook – Lane Seymour 5-8 13-15 23. Ian McIntosh 1-5 0-2 2, Cody McCracken 3-10 1-2 7, Zack Schellin 4-6 1-3 11, Travis Hamilton 3-7 1-3 7, Wade Schneider 7-9 3-3 17. Totals: 23-45 19-28.

Halftime score: C/J-I 28, Chinook 25. 3-pointers: C/J-I 5-11 (Harmon 3, C. Richter 2), Chinook 2-4 (Schellin 2). Fouls: C/J-I 26, Chinook 15. Fouled out – May, C. Ricther.