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Friday's Prep Boys Basketball : T-Birds, Bears set date for championship night: Rocky Boy reaches 1B title game

Since the start of the District 9C boys basketball team, there has been one matchup just about everybody has wanted to see. And after Box Elder and Hays-Lodge Pole each won convincingly in the semifinals, the Bears and Thunderbirds will meet in a highly-anticipated showdown Saturday night.

The T-Birds, which defeated Box Elder twice during the regular season, cruised to an easy 72-30 win over North Star Friday night inside the HHS gymnasium. To hold up its end of the bargain, Box Elder knocked off Chinook 77-54.

While the two teams played back-to-back Friday night, HLP took the floor first and early on at least, North Star was competitive. The score was 10-5 early in the first quarter, when Jace Shambo scored three buckets to spark an 8-3 run that gave the T-Birds an 18-8 lead after one.

HLP scored 32 points in the second quarter and took a 50-23 lead into halftime. Early in the third, North Star fought back a little, but a decisive 8-0 run for the T-Birds pushed the lead to 61-23 and put the game on ice.

"We didn't really shoot the ball well," HLP head coach Derek Shambo said. "But our guys played hard. They played really well defensively and were able to force a lot of turnovers."

Shambo also said his team was looking forward to Saturday night.

"Our main goal was to get to divisionals," Shambo said. "But we are excited to have a chance to win the district championship, that has been another goal of ours all season."

After seeing the T-Birds dismantle North Star, Box Elder decisively defeated Chinook. Yet, it wasn't an easy as the other semifinal. The Bears led 13-5 at the end of the first and 34-20 at the half. Yet, in the third quarter, the Sugarbeeters came out firing. Wade Schneider and Kord Scheider each scored multiple times and with 5:06 left in the third, Box Elder's lead had shrunk to 38-30.

However, Pete Azure Jr. responded with a 3-pointer and a few minutes later, when Tanner Parisian knocked down a trey it was 54-34. Trey Henderson then added a 3-point play and suddenly the Bears led 58-37 entering the fourth quarter.

"They made a run at us," Box Elder head coach Jeremy MacDonald said. "But we got some big buckets there and that got us some momentum."

MacDonald's Bears will shoot for their fifth straight 9C championship Saturday night. Tip-off time is set for 8 p.m.

"We are excited to have a chance to win a fifth district championship," MacDonald said. "We know it's going to be difficult because Hays-Lodge Pole has a good team, but it would mean a lot. I don't know if anyone has ever won five straight championships in the history of our district, so it's a great opportunity for us."

BOYS BASKETBALL

Billings West 52, Great Falls Russell 47

Bozeman 67, Great Falls 55

Butte 54, Billings Senior 46

Dillon 63, Belgrade 50

District 1B at Cut Bank

Semifinal

Cut Bank 71, Shelby 70, OT

Rocky Boy 81, Choteau 63

District 2B at Malta

Semifinal

Glasgow 47, Poplar 46

District 3B at Colstrip

Loser Out

Baker 65, St. Labre 46

Lodge Grass 83, Forsyth 63

District 4B at Red Lodge

Semifinal

Joliet 63, Huntley Project 57

Roundup 45, Shepherd 43

District 5B at Belgrade

Semifinal

Townsend 63, Three Forks 42

Whitehall 54, Jefferson (Boulder) 34

District 6B at Hamilton

Semifinal

Anaconda 53, Deer Lodge 49

Missoula Loyola 37, Florence 29

District 2C at Sidney

Loser Out

Froid/Medicine Lake 51, Culbertson 38

Richey-Lambert 51, Plentywood 38

Semifinal

Fairview 50, Bainville 44

District 3C at Glasgow

Loser Out

Lustre Christian 51, Dodson 42

Semifinal

Frazer 70, North Country 69

Scobey 63, Lustre Christian 16

District 4C at Custer

Loser Out

Jordan 64, Custer-Hysham 49

Terry 53, Broadus 34

Semifinal

Melstone 48, Ekalaka 31

Wibaux 78, Northern Cheyenne 67

District 6C at Huntley Project

Loser Out

Broadview-Lavina 72, Roberts 45

Park City 71, Absarokee 48

Semifinal

Plenty Coups 72, Harlowton 60

Reed Point-Rapelje 53, Bridger 50

District 8C at Lewistown

Loser Out

Winnett-Grass Range 44, Roy-Winifred 38

Semifinal

Belt 72, Hobson-Moore-Judith Gap 43

District 9C at Havre

Loser Out

Fort Benton 56, Chester-Joplin-Inverness 53

Turner 66, Big Sandy 61

Semifinal

Box Elder 77, Chinook 54

Hays-Lodgepole 80, North Star 36

District 10C at Great Falls

Loser Out

Great Falls Central 58, Cascade 54

Power 59, Simms 42

Semifinal

Heart Butte 40, Dutton-Brady 38

Sunburst 51, Valier 48

District 11C at Manhattan Christian

Semifinal

Gardiner 76, Lone Peak 55

White Sulphur Springs 74, Manhattan Christian 36

District 12C at Butte Central

Loser Out

Sheridan 70, Lima 52

Semifinal

Ennis 63, Phillipsburg 30

Twin Bridges 59, Drummond 34

District 13C at Frenchtown

Semifinal

Darby 53, Seeley-Swan 42

Valley Christian 77, Lincoln 52

District 14C at Pablo

Loser Out

Noxon 52, Two Eagle River 38

Semifinal

Arlee 84, Hot Springs 58

Plains 58, Charlo 47

 

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