Beeters' season ends at North-East B divisional tourney

The Chinook Sugarbeeters' magical post-season run came to an abrupt end at the North-East B girls divisional basketball tournament in Glasgow this weekend.

After getting routed by Fort Benton in the opening round on Thursday afternoon, the Beeters dropped a heartbreaking loss to the Simms Tigers, 47-44, in loser-out action on Friday afternoon.

The Beeters started the contest off by gaining a slim 12-10 lead after the first quarter of play. But the second quarter belonged to the Tigers as they outscored Chinook, 17-6, in the final eight minutes of the first half. The second-quarter run gave Simms a 27-18 lead at intermission.

The Beeters managed to close the gap to six points after outscoring Simms 12-9 in the third period. Despite a late fourth-quarter rally, the Beeters could not retake the lead late in the game as the Tigers held on for the three-point victory.

The Beeters got 12 points from Whitney Lybeck and nine from Monica Thackery in the loss. Simms was led by Cassie Vandenbos' game-high 13 points.

Simms was eliminated on Saturday morning by Shelby. Fairfield captured the Northeast B championship by defeating the top-ranked Wolf Point Wolves, 51-49, on Saturday night. Fort Benton also qualified for the state B tournament by defeating Shelby on Saturday night to take third place.

The Beeters' season came to an end as they finished with an 8-16 overall record.