Local cagers earn Class C accolades

It was a banner year for the District 9C in boys basketball, with Hays-Lodge Pole and Box Elder meeting in the Northern C championship game, and both going on to make noise at the Class C state tournament earlier this month in Bozeman.

And one of the reasons for it being such a great year was the talent in the 9C. As a result, six players from the district were named Northern C All-State this season, including a combined four from HLP and Box Elder.

The Thunderbirds got seniors Frank Runs Above and Tyson Shambo All-State honors, while the Bears were represented by Pernell Morsette and Trey Henderson. Runs Above, Shambo and Morsette are now two-time All-State performers.

Chester-Joplin-Inverness Cory Richter also earned All-State honors after leading the 9C in scoring this season. With the nod, Richter earned All-State in both basketball and football this year. Rounding out the 9C players on the All-State team was Chinook sophomore Cord Schneider, who helped lead the Sugarbeeters to the Northern C Divisional.

The rest of the Northern C All-State list was composed of Belt's Jess Bodner and Jaren Maki, Valier's Colten Curry, Centerville's Briggs Judd, Heart Butte's Chasen Kipp and Riley Spoon Hunter, Sunburst's Treyton Pickering and DGS Rhet Woodahll.

As for the 9C All-Conference teams, the First Team was made up of Chinook's Isaac Bell, North Star's Keevan Borlaug, HLP's Jace Shambo, as well as Morsette, Henderson, Runs Above, Tyson Shambo, Richter and Schneider.

The Second Team is composed of Box Elder's Tanner Parisian and Dusty Weiss, North Star's Devon Miller, Turner's Eddie Harmon, Big Sandy's Bryant Jones, Chinook's Wade Schneider and Fort Benton's Garrett Diekhans.

HLP head coach Derek Shambo was named the 9C Coach of the Year.

District 9C Boys All-Conference

First Team

Pernell Morsette, Sr., Box Elder; Frank Runs Above, Sr., Hays-Lodge Pole; Tyson Shambo, Sr., Hays-Lodge Pole; Trey Henderson, Sr., Box Elder; Cory Richter, Sr., Chester-Joplin-Inverness; Cord Schneider, So., Chinook; Isaac Bell, Sophomore, Chinook; Keevan Borlaug, Sr., North Star; Jace Shambo, Sr., Hays-Lodge Pole.

Second Team

Tanner Parisian, Jr., Box Elder; Devon Miller, Jr., North Star; Dusty Weiss, Sr., Box Elder; Eddie Harmon, Jr., Turner, Bryant Jones, Jr., Big Sandy; Wade Schneider, Sr., Chinook, Garrett Diekhans, Fr., Fort Benton.

Coach of the Year – Derek Shambo, Hays-Lodge Pole

Northern C All-State

Jess Bodner, Belt; Colten Curry, Valier; Trey Henderson, Box Elder; Briggs Judd, Centerville; Chasen Kipp, Heart Butte; Jaren Maki, Belt; Pernell Morsette, Box Elder; Treyton Pickering, Sunburst; Cory Richter, CJI; Frank Runs Above, HLP; Cord Schneider, Chinook; Riley Spoon Hunter, Heart Butte; Rhett Woodhall, DGS.