Beeters finish third in District 2B tourney, earn divisional berth

Somebody forget to tell the Chinook Sugarbeeters that they weren't supposed to make any noise at this past weekend's District 2B tournament in Wolf Point. The Beeters entered district play with just three wins on the season and emerged with a third-place finish as well as a trip to this weekend's North-East B divisional tournament in Glasgow.

The Beeters captured a thrilling 33-32 win over the Glasgow Scotties on Saturday night in the consolation game to earn third-place honors. Chinook led 20-16 at halftime and 28-22 after three quarters of play. The Scotties then rallied to outscore Chinook 10-5 in the final quarter, but the Beeters were able to hold on to the one-point victory. In the win, Chinook was led by Whitney Lybeck and Jennifer Baird, who scored 13 and 12 points, respectively.

The Beeters route to the consolation final game began on Thursday with a 47-30 upset win over the Plentywood Wildcats in the opening round of the tournament. On Friday night, Chinook fell, 52-36, to Malta in the semifinals. In the loss, the Beeters got a team-high 12 points from Brittany Buhmann while Lybeck added eight.

Chinook, faced with elimination on Saturday morning, managed to stay alive by downing the Poplar Indians, 65-45, in loser-out action. The game was close throughout the first half as the Beeters held a slim 25-19 lead at intermission. However, an 18-11 run in the third quarter was enough to put Poplar away. Chinook was led by Lybeck's game-high 25 points while Baird and Buhmann added nine points each in the win.

Chinook (6-16) will now face the Fort Benton Longhorns (15-6) on Thursday at 2:30 pm. in the first round of the North-East B Divisional.

Also at the District 2B tournament, he Harlem Wildcats' tough season came to an end with a pair of losses. On Thursday, Harlem was drilled by Malta, 71-31, in the opening round. The Wildcats were then eliminated on Friday afternoon as they fell, 64-46, to Plentywood. Harlem got 22 points from Olivia Main and 15 from Belinda Horn in the losing effort in the loss to Plentywood. The two losses ended Harlem's season with a 3-17 overall record.

At the District 10C tournament in Shelby, the Chester Coyotes season came to an end with a fourth place finish. Chester was defeated in the consolation final, 49-43, by the Dutton-Brady Cardinals on Saturday night. The Coyotes trailed the entire contest and could never close the gap to more than four points during the game. Chester got 13 points from Alisha Fossen and 10 from Brianne Wolf in the losing effort.

After getting a first round bye, Chester started the tourney off with a 60-40 loss to Valier in the semifinals on Thursday night. They were led by Amanda Schlepp's 15 points in the loss.

The Coyotes rebounded from the loss to Valier by picking up a 63-43 win over the J-I Rams in loser-out action on Friday. The Coyotes used a stifling defense in the first half to hold J-I to just six points enroute to the win. Chester was led to victory by Keyla Wendland's team-high 14 points while Fossen added 11. The Rams got a game-high 28 points from Megan Herdina in the losing effort. The win over J-I advanced the Coyotes to the consolation final where their season then came to an end with a 10-12 overall record.

J-I's season also came to end with the loss to the Coyotes. The Rams finished the season with an 0-20 overall record.