Fort Benton stampedes its way to another 9C title shot

The District 9C boys semifinals began Thursday night with two teams on a similar mission. Both wanted a chance to play for the championship, of course.

In the case of top-seeded Fort Benton, they were hungry for a chance to play Chinook again for the 9C championship, while the North Star Knights were hungry to punch a ticket to the Northern C.

However, in the end, the Longhorns beat the Knights 71-52 in the Havre High gymnasium, to advance to tonight's championship where they will meet No. 2 Chinook. The Horns also punched their ticket back to divsionals in the process.

Longhorns head coach Tyler Pasha was glad to see his team put forward a great effort to make it to the championship.

“North Star is a great team,” Pasha said. “They worked their butts off the entire game and they switched up their defenses a bunch on us. We had to go with the flow and the boys responded really well.”

Meanwhile, Knights head coach Cody Donoven was glad to see his team put up a big fight against Fort Benton and looks forward to the rest of the tournament.

“I’m proud of my boys,” Donoven said. “We battled. I think Fort Benton is the best team in the division and they proved it tonight. I’m proud of how we battled and I wouldn’t trade my boys for anything.”

The first quarter opened with Max Lane and Jace Thompson at the helm for the Longhorns. Then, North Star dropped some baskets, led by senior Caden Rettig and Hayden Massar, to cut the lead early. But the Longhorns broke out, courtesy of Hayden and Garrett Diekhans, to lead 18-8 after one.

In the second stanza, the two teams exchanged some points, but Fort Benton pushed forward with Garret Diekhans and Logan Giles dropping dimes. Then, Garrett Spicher had a solo 7-0 run to push North Star closer. Still, the Longhorns pulled away in the final minute of the half to lead 32-21.

After the break, the Longhorns went on another run to start it, while North Star continued to push back, this time with a 6-0 solo run by Gavin Spicher. The rest of the third period became a back-and-forth showdown, but Garrett Diekhans gave his team a boost to lead big 53-38 after three.

The fourth quarter brought about multiple quick runs by the Knights, who cut Fort Benton’s lead to just nine. But The Longhorns took advantage of some fouls to extend their lead once again, with Giles and Devin Bird closing off the game on a 6-0 run.

Thompson was excited about the semifinal win over North Star.

“We had a pretty good game,” Thompson said. “They were pretty close to us most of the time, but we were able to fight it out and made a lot of shots, so we had a good game.”

Fort Benton was led by Thompson’s 18-point game, with Garrett Diekhans right behind him with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Garret Spicher led North Star with 16 points, followed by Rettig and Massar with 11 points each.

The win gave Fort Benton another shot to claim the 9C title, something they didn't do this time a year ago, and Pasha is looking forward to playing the Chinook Sugarbeeters in the big game.

“It’s just nice to be back here,” Pasha said. “We were there last year against Chinook. They’ve tested us throughout all of the 9C.”

Meanwhile, Donoven is ready for his team to play hard against Chester-Joplin-Inverness today.

“They’re going to come ready to play,” Donoven said. “We’ve beat them both times, but if we don’t come ready to play tomorrow we’re going to be in a dog fight. We’re putting this one behind us and looking forward to today against CJI.”

Fort Benton (20-0) will meet the Chinook Sugarbeeters (16-4) in the 9C championship tonight at 8:30. The boys consolation game is set for 7 at the HHS gymnasium. The top three teams from the 9C advance to next week's Northern C.

Fort Benton 71, North Star 52

Fort Benton 18 14 21 18 – 71

North Star 8 13 17 14 – 52

Fort Benton – Devin Bird 12, Jace Thompson 18, Hayden Diekhans 10, Max Lane 4, Logan Giles 10, Garrett Diekhans 17.

North Star – Austin Hansen 6, Caden Rettig 11, Garret Spicher 16, Hayden Massar 11, Gavin Spicher 8.

3-pointers: Garret Spicher 2, Hayden Massar 1, Jace Thompson 2, Logan Giles 1. Fouls: North Star 14, Fort Benton 15. Fouled out: none.