Hi-Line Boys Roundup: A night the Sugarbeeters will never forget

The weather wreaked havoc on local sports this past weekend, as a number of boys and girls basketball games were postponed due to weather Saturday. Yet, neither the cold weather or the Harlem Wildcats could do anything to slow down Chinook's Isaac Bell last Thursday.

Bell, a junior, put together an epic performance Thursday in Harlem, scoring 51 points in Chinook's 94-80 win over the Wildcats. Bell was the first player in the state to score 50 points or more this season.

"I didn't really know and didn't really care about how many points I scored," Bell said. "Somebody told me I had 26 points at halftime. But I wasn't worried about that. I just wanted to win the game."

Bell's night started with a sensational first quarter. He connected three times from 3-point range on his way to 15 points in the opening stanza. The Sugarbeeters led 22-6 then and at the half, following another 11 points from Bell and three more triples in the second quarter, the score was 45-30.

"Every shooter needs to be confident," Bell said. "I just stepped up and my teammates kept hitting me in a good spots. I got a rhythm going I guess and I felt pretty hot."

While Bell scored 26 in the first 16 minutes of the game, he didn't cool down at all in the second half. He scored nine points in the third quarter, pushing his total to 35 and in the fourth quarter, he helped Chinook stave off a late run by the Wildcats, thanks to 16 points, which gave him a school-record total of 51. He finished the game with eight 3-pointers and was 9-of-11 from the free throw line. Cord Schneider also added 12 points in the win for Chinook. Brad Cichosz paced the Wildcats with 26.

In terms of Bell, his 51 points not only set a school record, but he also became the first high school player in Montana to score 50 points or more this season. Philip Malare scored 48 points back in December. Bell replaced Doug Watson as Chinook's single-game record holder. Watson set the mark of 42 points back in the 1960s.

"That does seem pretty crazy to think about that," Bell said. "Scoring more points in a game than anyone else in the state. That's pretty cool."

Following the win over Harlem, Chinook (14-1, 11-0) was supposed to play at Turner Saturday, but like many others, the game was postponed due to the weather. Other games that were canceled Saturday were Fort Benton against Hays-Lodge Pole and North Star vs Big Sandy.

While the Beeters played a non-conference game Thursday, Box Elder and Big Sandy went head-to-head in a District 9C game Thursday night and it was the Bears who wound up victorious, knocking off the Pioneers 61-52.

In other Class B action Thursday, Rocky Boy continued to roll over the competition and in a non-district Northern B contest, the Stars beat Malta 53-41. Rocky Boy got 15 points from Kordell Small, as well as 14 with Ben Iron Eyes and 12 with Kendall Windy Boy.

Last Friday, there was plenty of action inside the 9C, including a significant upset, as the Turner Tornadoes knocked off the Hays-Lodge Pole Thunderbirds 75-70 in Turner. Cody Welsh poured in 26 points for Turner, which also got 22 from Eddie Harmon. The T-Birds got 18 from Chance Main and 17 more from David Main.

Fort Benton was able to gain from the T-Birds' loss, as the Longhorns knocked off Box Elder at home Friday night to move within half a game of HLP for third place in the 9C standings. Garrett Diekhans scored 23 points to lead Fort Benton to win. Andy Giles also had a big night with 21.

Lastly, North Star played host to Chester-Joplin-Inverness Friday and won a hard-fought game, 52-43 to keep their two-game lead on HLP and Fort Benton for second place. The Knights got another strong performance from Dylan Miller, who finished with 13. North Star also got 12 points from Hayden Masser and 11 from Devon Miller. Evan Dahinden led the Hawks with 11. Jackson Diemert and Tyler Wanken both added nine.

Harlem was also in action Friday and dropped a 51-43 contest to Glasgow. The Wildcats are now 4-12 on the season.

Thursday

Rocky Boy 53, Malta 41

Rocky Boy 14 9 14 16 - 53

Malta 9 10 9 13 - 41

Rocky Boy: Kordell Small 15, Ben Iron Eyes 14, Olin Arkinson 2, Wyatt Caplette 10, Kendall Windy Boy 12.

Malta: Konner Kuehn 5, Landon VanWichen 8, Kevin Henry 2, Ben Costin 3, Tel Jensen 2, Tanner Smith 4, Taylor Matthews 17.

Chinook 94, Harlem 80

Harlem 6 24 21 29 - 80

Chinook 22 23 20 29 - 84

Harlem 6 24 21 29 - 80

Chinook 22 23 20 29 - 94

Harlem: Taggert Devaney 6, S. Main 10, D. Shambo 2, K. Young Se 19, L. Allen 11, Brad Cichosz 26, Ryle Foole 6.

Chinook: Isaac Bell 51, Ethan Bell 7, Trojan Hannum 7, Riley Kellam 8, Brandan Edwards 9, Cord Schneider 12.

Friday

Turner 75, Hays-Lodge Pole 70

HLP 11 19 12 28 - 70

Turner - 14 13 20 28 - 75

Hays-Lodge Pole: Cliff 13, Ball 2, Bradley 3, Blackcrow 12, Runsabove 2, Stiffarm 3, D. Main 17, C. Main 18.

Turner: A. Welsh 7, J. Harmon 2, Calvert 2, Cody Welsh 26, Kimmel 12, Eddie Harmon 22, Heilig 4.

Fort Benton 64, Box Elder 50

Box Elder 13 12 19 6 - 50

Fort Benton 8 16 18 22 - 64

Box Elder: NA.

Fort Benton: Andy Giles 21, Damon Bird 3, Logan Giles 9, Garret Diekhans 23, Hayden Diekhans 6, Max Lane

North Star 52, Chester-Joplin-Inverness 43

CJI 8 9 6 20 - 43

North Star 13 15 10 14 - 52

Chester-Joplin-Inverness: Jackson Diemert 9, Andrew Woods 3, Spencer Richter 9, Evan Dahinden 11, D. Melton 2, Tyler Wanken 9.

North Star: Austin Hansen 2, Dylan Miller 13, Caden Rettig 2, Hayden Masser 12, Devon Miller 11, Thomas Nerat 11, Joe Sanja 1.