Bears claw Renegades in Class C opener

GREAT FALLS — The Reed Point-Rapelje Renegades were undoubtedly excited to reach the Class C state tournament. but, minutes into their game against Box Elder, they had the look of a team that didn’t know what hit them.

The Bears are well known for their full-court pressure defense and in the first few minutes of their opening round game at the Class C boys tournament in Great Falls, they suffocated the Renegades with it. In the first four minutes of the game, the Bears forced six turnovers and build a 12-2 lead. Box Elder would keep up the pressure and in the end, cruised to the easy victory by the score of 83-26.

“It’s hard not to be intimidated,” RPR head coach Jerry Thompson said. “I mean, those guys are just so good. They are so fast and they just kill you with their pressure defense. They make a lot of good teams look bad.”

After jumping out to a quick 10-point lead, the Bears got their first 3-pointer of the game from Jake Jones, which put Box Elder in front 17-4 at the end of the first quarter. In the second quarter, Box Elder kept bombarding the Renegades, and after a 3-point play by Tristan Bernard, the Bears were 27-8. Later on in the quarter, Brandon The Boy started to get hot from deep, connecting twice from downtown before the end of the stanza and following a trey by Pernell Morsette, Box Elder led 40-12 at the half.

“That was a good start for us,” Box Elder head coach Jeremy MacDonald said. “We did some different things defensively. We missed some opportunities on offense there early in the game, but we really picked it up in the second half and shot 73 percent I think, so that was a good way to start the tournament.”

In the first 16 minutes of play, the Bears’ defense was hitting on all cylinders, forcing 15 turnovers and holding the Renegades to just 25 percent shooting from the field (6-of-24).

“Defense wins championships,” The Boy said. “We put our defense first and defense can create 65 percent of your offense. I am a believer of that. We just need to keep it up in the semifinals.”

The Boy, who scored 12 points in the first half, came out firing in the third quarter, knocking down a trey. Bernard added another two to put the Bears up 49-12 and cap a 9-0 to open the second half. However, The Boy wasn’t done and he would score three more times in the game before MacDonald called a timeout to take out his starters. Box Elder led 65-18, but before the third was over, Trey Henderson got in on the act, knocking down a three to give the Bears a 70-18 lead at after three.

In the fourth quarter, the clock was running and Box Elder used it as a chance for some of its young players to get experience. But even the guys who normally don’t play much lit it up. Pete Azure Jr. knocked down a three and when it was all said and done, the Bears rolled to the 57-point victory.

The Boy led the Bears with a scorching 21-point effort that including a 9-of-12 performance from the field and a 3-of-5 effort from beyond the arc. The Boy also added six assists and didn’t turn the ball over once.

“I was just letting the game come to me,” The Boy said. “I was just out there having fun. I missed state a lot. It feels good to be back here and we are not finished yet.”

Morsette also had a solid night for the Bears, finishing with 13 points. Bernard, who was a perfect 5-of-5 from the field, also contributed with 11 points, while Jerrod Four Colors added 10 to go along with eight rebounds and two blocks. Cade Bare was the only RPR player to reach double figures as he scored 14 of the Renegades’ 24 points.

With the win, the Bears improved to 24-1 on the season and they will now advance to the Class C state semifinals on tonight against Westby-Grenora at 8 p.m. If Box Elder wins tonight, the Bears will try for their second state championship in three years Saturday night versus either Belt or Arlee. Tip-off for the state title game is also set for 8 p.m. inside the Four Seasons Arena in Great Falls.

Box Elder 83, Reed Point-Rapelje 26

RPR 4 8 6 8 – 26

Box Elder 17 23 30 13 – 83

Reed Point-Rapelje – Cade Bare 5-7 4-4 14, John Schladweiler 0-4 0-0 0, Jeremy Boatman 0-1 0-0 0, Tristan Gieser 2-6 0-0 4, Trevor Herzog 0-9 0-0 0, Tyree Williams 1-1 0-0 2, Dylan Blodgett 2-6 0-0 4, Mike Davis 0-1 0-0 0, Payton Severin 1-5 0-2 2. Totals: 11 4-6.

Box Elder – Jerrod Four Colors 5-12 0-0 10, Pernell Morsette 6-10 0-1 13, Brandon The boy 9-12 0-0 21, Bodis Duran 1-5 0-0 2, Tristan Bernard 5-5 1-1 11, Jake Jones-Morsette 1-2 0-0 3, Pete Azure Jr. 1-2 0-0 3, Elias Robertson 2-4 1-2 5, Trey Henderson 4-6 0-0 9, Shane Ketchum 3-5 0-0 6, Leo Johnson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 37-64 2-4.

fouls – RPR 6, Box Elder 10. 3-pointers – RPR 0-10 (Bare 0-1, Gieser 0-2, Herzog 0-5, Blodgett 0-1, Davis 0-1), Box Elder 7-13 (P. Morsette 1-2, The Boy 3-5, Jones-Morsette 1-2, Azure Jr. 1-1, Henson 1-2, Ketchum 0-1). Rebounds – RPR 20 (Herzog 6), Box Elder 34 (Four Colors 8). Assists – RPr 3 (Schladweiler 2), Box Elder 21 (The Boy 6). Turnovers – RPr 24, Box Elder 9. Steals – RPR 5 (Bare 3), Box Elder 21 (Four Colors 5). Blocks – RPR 1 (Herzog), Box Elder 3 (Four Colors 2).