Fort Benton girls storm into the semis

GREAT FALLS - The Fort Benton Longhorns went into the Northern C Divisional Girls Basketball Tournament hoping to get the taste of their second-place finish in the District 9C Tournament out of their mouths.

After winning the District 9C Tournament three years in a row, the Longhorns were upset by North Star in the championship game to end their undefeated season. Fort Benton began their redemption tour on Wednesday night with a 78-31 win over Valier at the Great Falls Four Seasons Arena.

"They came out today, worked hard. We're excited to be back in the semis," said Fort Benton head coach Cassie Pimperton. "We got to work hard for every second we're on the floor and I was proud of them for doing that tonight."

The Longhorns' defense got after it early as they pressured the Panthers into several turnovers in the game's opening minutes. Aspen Giese took advantage of these mistakes to score nine points in the game's first two minutes. The Longhorns had a 13-0 lead before they let the Panthers even get the ball past half-court.

"All year, we've hoped that our defense can keep us in games if we're not rolling on offense," Pimperton said.

The first quarter ended with Fort Benton leading 30-9. The Panthers were not able to gain any traction on offense as the Longhorns had put the game away by the end of the third quarter. The Longhorns finished the night shooting 51.7 percent from the field. Giese led the team with 23 points on 8-for-13 shooting from the field and 6-for-8 shooting from the free-throw line. Both Hailee and Ashlee Wang scored 12 points and shot over 50 percent from the field. The Longhorns also dominated on the boards as they outrebounded the Panthers, 42-17.

The Longhorns' defense forced Valier to shoot 29 percent from the field and turn the ball over 29 times. The Longhorns also recorded 21 steals.

Valier came into the Northern C after finishing second in the District 10C Tournament. Valier played in a loser-out game this morning against Box Elder.

Fort Benton advances to the semifinal tonight where they will face defending tournament champion Roy-Winifred.

"We're going to have to be ready to go and be ready to play defense," Pimperton said.

Fort Benton will play Roy-Winifred tonight at 8:30 p.m. at the Great Falls Four Seasons Arena.

Box Elder stifled by Roy-Winifred

In only their second game of the Northern C Divisional Girls Basketball Tournament, Box Elder had to face the defending tournament champion Roy-Winifred Outlaws. And the Outlaws did not let the Bears get in the way of a possible repeat as they defeated Box Elder, 44-19, on Wednesday night at the Great Falls Four Seasons Arena.

The Bears fell behind early as the Outlaws opened the game on a 9-0 run and finished the quarter leading 18-5. Megan Bergum led the way for Roy-Winifred in the opening frame as she went 4-for-4 from the 3-point line.

The Bears' offense didn't make any strides in the second quarter as they went into halftime trailing 27-8. Box Elder was only able to make three field goals in the first half.

"Their defense was pretty good tonight but when we shoot 17 percent, it's pretty hard to win a game like that," said Box Elder head coach Jerome Gopher. "I believe we just didn't play our best tonight."

The closest the Bears got in the second half was when they cut the deficit to 13 early in the fourth quarter. However, the Outlaws went on to finish the game on an 12-0 run. The Bears shot 17.8 percent from the field and went 0-for-8 from beyond the arc. Kyla Momberg led Box Elder with seven points but shot 3-for-16 from the field. No other Bear scored more than three points.

The Outlaws finished the night shooting 48.6 percent from the field. They had three players reach double digits in scoring, including Bergum who led the game with 13. The Outlaws came into the Northern C after winning the District 8C Tournament. They advance to the semifinal tonight where they will face Fort Benton.

Box Elder came into the game after defeating Cascade, 74-43, on Tuesday. After their loss to Roy-Winifred, the Bears played this morning in a loser-out game against Valier.

"We just got to rebound from this game. Northern C is the toughest division and we just got to come out ready to play," Gopher said. "There's still a lot of basketball left to be played for our girls."

The winner of the Box Elder-Valier game will stay alive for the consolation game and will next play tomorrow at 1 p.m. at the Great Falls Four Seasons Arena.

Hawks stay alive in a thriller

A strong postseason run for the Chester-Joplin-Inverness Hawks hit a snag on Tuesday night in their opening game of the Northern C Divisional Boys Basketball Tournament when they lost to Dutton-Brady. Facing elimination, the Hawks responded on Wednesday with a 52-51 victory over Winnett-Grass Range in a loser-out game at the Great Falls Four Seasons Arena.

The Hawks looked like they were in trouble early as they trailed 12-11 at the end of the first quarter. They got it together in the second quarter to take the lead and head into halftime leading 29-27.

There were four ties throughout the game, but after halftime, the Rams could not break through to regain the lead. However, they still gave the Hawks all they could handle in the second half. Both teams scored 16 points in the third quarter, but the Hawks still led by two heading to the fourth. The Rams made it a one-point lead in the game's final moments, but the Hawks held on to keep their season alive.

The Hawks had a much better offensive performance than they did against the Diamondbacks. The team shot 43.9 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from the 3-point line. Kealy Haaland led the Hawks with 17 points on 6-for-11 shooting from the field and 3-for-4 shooting from beyond the arc. Kyle Harmon also made an impact with 16 points on 6-for-11 shooting from the field and 2-for-3 shooting from the 3-point line. Blake Harmon also contributed 9 points after he shot 5-for-5 from the free-throw line.

Walker Doman led the Rams with 26 points as he shot 9-for-12 from the field and 8-for-11 from the free-throw line. He was also a defensive force for the Rams as he recorded seven blocks on the night. The Rams played strong pressure throughout the game as they forced the Hawks into 21 turnovers.

CJI hopes for a repeat of their run in the District 9C Tournament when they lost their opening game of the tournament and ran the table to take third place as the no. 6 seed. Their win over the Rams was the Hawks' fourth this postseason, tying their number of wins from the regular season. CJI still needs to win three straight games to place third in their second consecutive tournament. However, the consolation will not give them a bid to state, but the chance to challenge the Northern C second-place team for their spot in the state tournament.

The Hawks continue their quest for the Northern C consolation trophy as they play on Friday at 8 a.m. against Roy-Winifred in a loser-out game at the Great Falls Four Seasons Arena.

Fort Benton 78, Valier 31

Valier 9 11 5 6 – 31

Fort Benton 30 22 16 10 – 78

Valier – Erica Ramsey 10, Kinley Kovatch 0, Aubrey Bowers 0, Hannah St. Goddar 4, Hannah Monroe 7, Hylee Layne 2, Loni Orcutt 3, Katelyn Lamere 0, Natalee St. Goddard 3, Emma Valdez 2, Sierra Curry 0.

Fort Benton – Casha Condor 0, Hailee Wang 12, Ashlee Wang 12, Aspen Giese 23, Abby Clark 6, Samantha Vielleux 4, Laela Borero 0, Maci Molinario 6, Kylynn Nack 0, Cloe Kalanick 6, Emerson Giese 9, Sarah Clark 0.

Roy-Winifred 44, Box Elder 19

Box Elder 5 3 9 2 – 19

Roy-Winifred 18 9 5 12 – 44

Box Elder – Annalise Johnson 0, Angela Gopher 3, Mariah Arkinson 3, Tayleigh Sutherland 0, Abria Small Boy 2, Brielle Sun Child 2, Tayleigha Sun Child 0, Kyla Momberg 7, Breanna Bacon 2.

Roy-Winifred – Lexie Goettlich 0, Trinity Edwards 2, Megan Bergum 13, Bella Edwards 0, Cadence Tillman 2, Madeline Heggem 6, Jayda Southworth 11, Isabelle Heggem 10, Dakota Crabtree 0.

CJI 52, Winnett-Grass Range 51, LO

Winnett-Grass Range 12 15 16 8 – 51

CJI 11 18 16 7 – 52

Winnett-Grass Range – Walker Doman 26, Cy Nunn 0, Derrik Zimmerman 2, Brady Bantz 8, Garret Eickhoff 0, Cooper Doman 0, Jace Dunkel 4, Layton Tucek 0, Matthew Weller 6.

CJI – Bryce Ghekiere 0, Braden Mattson 0, Kyle Harmon 16, Jordan Bender 2, Bryce Kammerzell 8, Blake Harmon 9, Trevin Grammar 0, Kealy Haaland 17.