Hi-Line teams compete at North Star, Chinook

George Ferguson Havre Daily News sports editor [email protected]

The 2009 high school volleyball season is young. But Hi-Line teams are using tournaments to get plenty of matches and plenty of experience as the buildup towards conference play begins. This past weekend, two big tourneys were held locally, including the Chinook Invitational and the North Star Showcase. The North Star tournament saw pool play on Friday in Gildford and Rudyard, and a bracket tournament on Saturday. The host Knights made it to the championship bracket as did Rocky Boy and Big Sandy. North Star went 6-2 overall on the weekend and wound up beating Rocky Boy and Big Sandy in the championship bracket. Big Sandy also won once in the championship bracket and went 3-3 overall, as did the Morning Stars. Fort Benton, Class C's newest team, captured the North Star Showcase title, beating Northern C stalwart Sunburst in two games in the championship match. Box Elder also went 3-3 over the weekend at the North Star tourney, while Hays-Lodge Pole went 1-5. The Bears won twice in the consolation bracket on Saturday. Meanwhile, things weren't as easy for the Chinook Sugarbeeters at their own tournament. Over the course of two days, Chinook went 1-7 at the Chinook Invitational, a tournament largely comprised of Class B schools. The Beeters lost to Malta, Shelby, Highwood and Conrad in pool play on Friday. The Beeters lost to Glasgow in the first round of the tournament on Saturday, but did defeat Valier in loser-out action before being eliminated by Highwood on Saturday afternoon. The Chester/J-I Hawks also didn't have much success in Chinook this past weekend. On Friday, the Hawks went 1-4 in pool play, beating Fairfield, but losing to Valier, Glasgow, Wolf Point and Cut Bank. The Hawks were eliminated from the tournament with losses to Glasgow and Shelby on Saturday. Wolf Point beat Shelby in the championship match to claim the Chinook Invitational title.