Hi-Line Boys Roundup: Bears beat T-Birds in big 9C showdown

It was another exciting weekend of boys basketball along the Hi-Line, but it was particularly exciting for the District 9C, as its top two teams squared off in a battle of top three teams in the Class C rankings.

The top-ranked Box Elder Bears hosted the No. 3 Hays-Lodge Pole Thunderbirds Saturday in a showdown for first place in the 9C standings. For a half, the T-Birds hung tough with defending Class C state champion Box Elder, but as the game moved on, the Bears flexed their muscle and routed HLP 94-63.

The T-Birds jumped out to the early 19-14 advantage but after a 27-point second quarter, the Bears grabbed a 41-34 halftime lead. Then, in the third quarter the flood gates opened. Box Elder outscored HLP 32-11 in the third, opening up a 28-point lead on its way to a 31-point victory.

Jerrod Four Colors had 20 points to lead the way for Box Elder. Jake Jones also poured in 20 for the Bears, who also got 13 points by Clayton Morsette Jr., as well as 11 apiece from Brandon The Boy and Jake Jones. Sterling White Cow had 16 to lead the way for the T-Birds. Frank Runs Above finished with 14.

While the marquee game of their weekend took place Saturday, the Bears also put their No. 1 ranking on the line against the Turner Tornadoes in Box Elder Thursday. Once again, the Bears showed their dominance and easily dispatched Turner by the score of 110-26.

Pernell Morsette scored 22 points to lead the Bears, while Morsette Jr. added 21. The Boy pitched in with 18 and Bodis Duran also contributed with 12. Lucas Reed and Brett Van Valkenburg each had eight points in the loss for the Tornadoes.

In other 9C action Thursday night, the Chinook Sugarbeeters hosted Fort Benton-Geraldine in district play. The score was tied up at 8-8 after the first quarter, but the Beeters outscored the Longhorns 16-3 in the second quarter and went on to win by a final score of 59-27.

Lane Seymour was outstanding in the win for the Beeters with a total of 27 points. Cody McCraken pitched in with 12 and Ian McIntosh also had 10. Toren Andreason led the Longhorns with eight points.

Friday, there were two more 9C games. The first featured the Big Sandy Pioneers visiting Turner and, despite trailing by two going into the final stanza, the Pioneers outscored Turner 21-16 in the fourth quarter to come away with a 57-54 win.

Levi Edwards put together a stellar showing for the Pioneers, scoring 31 points in the win. Reed led the way for Turner with a solid 24 points.

The only other game Friday that pitted 9C teams against each other was between North Star and Chinook as the Knights welcomed the Beeters onto their home floor. Chinook proved once again that it is one of the top teams in the 9C, and thanks to 21 points from Seymour, the Beeters cruised to a 71-36 victory. In addition to Seymour, McIntosh also had 21 points, while Zack Schellin finished with 12. Matthew Helmbrecht was the top scorer for the Knights with nine.

Before travelling to Box Elder Saturday, HLP hosted Roy-Winifred in non-conference action Friday, winning easily by the score of 71-45. White Cow had 18 points and Runs Above had 14 points to lead the T-Birds to victory.

In District 1B play Friday, the Rocky Boy Stars paid a visit to Conrad and, thanks to an impressive 23-point outing from Cecil LaFromboise, they won by the score of 60-39. Junior Day Child also made his presence felt with 15 points, while Bubby Gopher had eight.

In other class B action, the Harlem Wildcats took on the Malta Mustangs Friday and lost 78-68. Chester/J-I also took part in a non-district game against Class B rival Cut Bank. The Hawks fought valiantly but ended up dropping the game by a final of 49-44.

Saturday night, North Star was looking to get a win in Big Sandy after falling to Chinook at home. And get it the Knights did, sneaking out a 51-49 road win. Gavin Spinler had 13 in the win for North Star, while Kyle Strutz and Laurence Alderdice each had 11 for Big Sandy.

Fort Benton-Geraldine was looking to avoid an 0-2 week in 9C play when it played host to C/J-I Saturday, but despite the Longhorn’s best efforts, the Hawks simply proved to be the better team and ran away with a 66-44 victory. Justin May had 19 points to lead the Hawks. Brandon Theel and Troy Harmon added 13. Brandon Richter pitched in with 12. Andreasen was stellar in a losing effort and scored a game-high 25 points for the Longhorns.

Rounding out the Hi-Line action Saturday was Harlem paying a visit to Poplar. And after the Wildcats fell short against Malta Friday, they made sure they came away with a 70-52 win. Marcus Henry paced the Wildcats with 22 points, while Dutch Helgeson also contributed to the win with 11.

Finally, Monday night, Turner made the short trip to Havre for a non-conference game against the Havre freshmen team. The Blue Ponies managed to grab a 12-9 lead at the end of the first quarter, but the Tornadoes answered in the second, outscoring Havre 20-10 to take a 29-22 lead into halftime.

In the second half, Reed took the game over. He scored a total of 16 points in the game’s last 16 minutes, including 12 points in the fourth quarter as Turner came away with the 63-53 victory.

In addition to Reed, Turner also got 13 points from Brett Van Valkenberg and 11 from Eddie Harmon. Tre Murhpy led the Ponies with 18 points. Jacob Irvin also added 14 in the loss.

Thursday

Chinook 59, Fort Benton-Geraldine 27

Fort Benton-Geraldine 8 3 6 10 – 27

Chinook 8 16 19 16 – 59

Fort Benton-Geraldine – Toren Andreason 9, R. Briese 6, J. Christensen 1, E. Toon 6, T. Arganbright 3, R. Kurtz 1, Sean Bronec 1. Totals: 11 4-11.

Chinook – Lane Seymour 27, Ian McIntosh 10, Cody McCracken 12, Zack Schellin 3, Travis Hamilton 2, Wade Schneider 4, Tanner Ramberg 1. Totals: 22 15-21.

Three pointers – Arganbright 1. Total fouls – Fort Benton 19, Chinook 15. Fouled out – None.

Box Elder 110, Turner 26

Turner 6 8 7 5 – 26

Box Elder 37 25 26 22 – 110

Turner – Cody. Welsh 2, Clayton Krass 5, Tristan. Billmayer 2, Brett VanValkenburg 8, Lucas Reed 8, Tracer Heileg 1. Totals: 11 3-7.

Box Elder – Brandon The Boy 18, Bodis Duran 12, Clayton Morsette Jr. 21, Jake Jones 5, Jerrod Four Colors 2, Thane Wolf Chief 4, Talon Morsette 7, Elias Robertson 7, Quinn Baker 6, Trey Hendarson 6, Pernell Morsette 22. Totals: 47 5-9.

3-point goals – Krass 1, The Boy 4, Duran 1, C. Morsette Jr. 1, Jones 1, T. Morsette 1, Robertson 1, P. Morsette 2. Total fouls – Turner 9, Box Elder 12. Fouled out – None.

Friday

Big Sandy 57, Turner 54

Big Sandy 9 13 12 23 – 57

Turner 7 18 12 17 – 54

Big Sandy – L. Edwards 32, E. Schwartzbach 2, S. Wing 5. G. Menard 6, K. Strutz 4, L. Allerdice 8. Totals: 20 17-30.

Turner – E. Harmon 9, T. Humphreys 10, T. Billmayer 5, B. Van Valkenberg 4, L. Reed 24, T Heileg 2. Totals: 22 7-14.

Team fouls – Big Sandy 20, Turner 20. Fouled out – Wing. 3-pointers – Humphreys 2, Harmon 1.

Rocky Boy 60, Conrad 39

Rocky Boy 16 19 14 11 - 60

Conrad 16 2 14 7 - 39

Rocky Boy - Bubby Gopher 8, Isiah Murie 3, Levi Olsen 7, Slylar Parisian 4, Junior DayChild 15, Cecil LaFromboise 23. Totals: 27 2-7.

Conrad - Clark Judisch 10, Shane Larson 5, Blake Underdahl 6, Tristen Diedrich 7, Kyle Murack 10. Totals: 16 3-10.

3-pointers - Gorper, Murie, Olsen, DayChild, Larson, Underdahl, Murack 2. Total fouls - RB 13, Con 8.

Hays-Lodge Pole 71, Roy-Winifred 45

Roy-Winifred 11 16 16 2 - 45

HLP 18 21 11 21 - 71

Roy-Winifred - Cody Bergum 3, Jordan DeHaven 7, Buster Styer 17, Brett Wichman 2, Raymond Guick 7, Rowan Rice 7

Hays-Lodge Pole - Jace Shambo 2, Elijah Blackcrow 3, Tyson Shambo 10, Damon CAstillo 2, Brian Wing 6, Lance Strike 12, Sterling White Cow 18, Frank Runs Above 13, Tough Snow 5.

3-pointers - Bergum, Styer 3, Blackcrow, T. Shambo 2, White Cow 3. Total fouls -- Roy-Wini 16, HLP 15. Fouled out - DeHaven, Stye. Technical foul - Wing.

Chinook 71, North Star 36

Chinook 17 26 12 16 – 71

North Star 6 6 14 10 – 36

Chinook – Lane Seymour 21, Kyler Johnson 0, Ian McIntosh 21, Cody McCracken 8, Zack Schellin 12, Jake Diemert 0, Travis Hamilton 7, Wade Schneider 2, Austin Chookomool 0. Totals 23 22-33.

North Star – Cade Chvilicek 0, Willie Gilead 2, Gavin Sprinter 7, Jimmy Snow 0, Payton Peterson 5, Devon Miller 7, Keevan Borlaug 0, Matthew Helmbrecht 9, Thatcher Smith 3, Jaxon Simonson 3. Totals 13 8-14.

3-point goals-Chinook 3 (McIntosh, McCracken, Hamilton), North Star 2 (Spinler, Helmbrec). Total fouls-Chinook 11, North Star 21. Fouled out-Peterson.

Saturday

North Star 51, Big Sandy 49

North Star 6 13 17 15 – 51

Big Sandy 9 15 11 16 – 49

North Star – Wilie Gilead 2, Gavin Spinler 13, Jimmy Snow 2, Payton Peterson 7, Devon Miller 15, Matthew Helmbret 6, Thatcher Smith 4, Jaxon Simonson 2. Totals: 19 12-21.

Big Sandy – Levi Edwards 5, E. Schwartzbach 2, S. Wing 4, Geno Menard 10, Kyle Strutz 11, Laurence Alderdice 11. Totals: 19 8-17.

3-point goals – Spinler 1, Alldardice 1. Total fouls – North Star 19, Big Sandy 17. Fouled out – Wing, Alderdice.

Box Elder 94, Hays-Lodge Pole 63

Hays-LP 19 15 11 18 – 63

Box Elder 14 27 32 21 – 94

Hays-Lodge Pole – J. Shambo 5, T. Shambo 11, B. Wing 2, L. Strike 13, S. WhiteCow 16, F. Runs Above 14, T. Snow 2. Totals: 24 9-17.

Box Elder – Brandon The Boy 11, Bodie Duran 8, Clayton Morsette Jr. 13, Jake Jones 20, Jerrod Four Colors 20, Quinn Baker 11, Pernell Morsette 5, Shane Ketchum 6. Totals: 30 24-32.

3-pointers --- T. Shambo 2, Strike, WhiteCow 3, B. The Boy 3, Duran, Jones 3, Four Colors, Ketchum 2. Total fouls – HLP 24, BE 14. Fouled out – J. Shambo, Morsette Jr. Technical fouls – BE team.

Chester/J-I 66, Fort Benton-Geraldine 44

C/J-I 15 22 17 12 – 66

FB-G 9 15 4 16 – 44

C/J-I – Brandon Richter 12, Brandon Theel 13, Javin Miebs 2, Troy Harmon 13, Cory Richter 7, Justin May 19. Totals: 22 18-27.

Fort Benton-Geraldine – T. Andreasen 25, B. Hulme 3, R. Briese 6, J. Christensen 2, E. Toon 5, T. ArganBright 2, R. Kurtz 1. Totals: 15 13-22.

3-pointers – B. Richter 2, Harmon, May, Briese. Total fouls – CJI 19, FBG 20.

Harlem 70, Poplar 52

Harlem 22 13 20 15 -70 

Poplar 8 7 16 21 - 52 

Harlem:  Corbin Brockie 9, Dutch Helgeson 11, Deion Hammett 3, Marcus Henry 22, Michael Butterfly 3, Keahna Little 6, Tristan Gone 12, James Chandler 2, Terry Sandcrane 2.

Poplar:  Coy Atkinson 6, Alex Lone Bear 14, Myltin Bighorn 10, Waylone Youpee 15, Lane Headdress 1, Boy Youngman 4, Damon Sadler 2.

Monday

Turner 63, Havre Frosh 53

Turner 9 20 12 22 - 63

Havre 12 10 12 19 – 53

Turner – Lucas Reed 21, Brett Van Valkenberg 13, Eddie Harmon 11, Tristian Billmayer 8, Tyler Humphreys 5, Damian Schumacher 2.

Havre – Trey Murphy 18, Jacob Irvin 14, David Main 10, Lazarius Windy Boy 6, Bobby O'Leary 3, Austin Jones 2.