Sugarbeeters mash the Tornadoes

There's nothing easy about District 9C girls basketball. But, in the first game of the 2023 9C girls tournament, the Chinook Sugarbeeters sure made it look that way.

The undefeated, and top-seeded Beeters pummeled Turner 52-15 in the opening game of the 9C tournament Thursday afternoon inside the HHS gymnasium. The dominant victory advanced Chinook to tonight's first semifinal.

And while the game was a blowout, Chinooks started off a little jittery in the first quarter, that is, until Hallie Neibauer buried a 3-pointer to give the Beeters a 13-2 lead after eight minutes.

"Any time you play in a gym you've never shot in before, it takes some time to adjust," Chinook head coach Mike Jones said. "But once we got it rolling, it was really good. I think we started to really play well."

And did Chinook ever get it rolling.

On one end, the Beeters started making shots and layups in the second quarter, while also clamping down on a young Turner squad defensively. And by the time the period ended, Chinook had gone on a 21-0 run, and took a commanding 34-2 lead into intermission.

But the intermission didn't cool the Beeters off, either. Neibauer and Alexus Seymour each scored early in the third stanza, as the run grew to 29 unanswered points and Chinook's lead ballooned to 40-2. Turner finally got a free throw at the 5:40 mark, the Tornadoes' first point in over 13 minutes of game time. And their first field goal in that same stretch didn't come until there was 4:56 left in the quarter, as Chinook led 49-8 after three, and emptied its bench for the remainder of the game.

"I think our defense was the biggest key," Jones said. "Defense leads to offense. We preach that all season."

Chinook's defense was stifling. Turner committed 19 turnovers and shot just 16 percent from the field. The Tornadoes, who were led in scoring by Bridget Reed's six points, also got out-rebounded 31-18.

The Beeters weren't too shabby on offense, though. Chinook shot 40 percent from the floor and 46 percent from beyond the arc. Neibauer led a balanced attack with 11 points, while Seymour, Bree Swanson and Hannah Schoen each scored 10. Neibauer also canned two triples, including a buzzerbeater, while Swanson grabbed nine rebounds, as Chinook moved to within game of a return trip to the championship.

To get there, though, the Beeters (19-0) will have to get past defending champions Box Elder. The Beeters and Bears meet in a rematch of last year's chipper tonight at 7.

"We just have to keep up the defensive intensity," Jones said. "When we're playing good, hard defense, we are usually pretty good, so that's what we need to do throughout this tournament."

Chinook 52, Turner 15

Turner 2 0 6 7 - 15

Chinook 13 21 15 3 - 52

Turner - Dakota Krass 1, Abby Grabofsky 1, Ali Doyle 2, Meridian Snider 2, Bridget Reed 6, Hannah Richman 3.

Chinook - Torin Cecrle 2, Bree Swanson 10, Alexus Seymour 10, Mya Berreth 2, Anna Terry 2, Hallie Neibauer 11, Jenna Liddle 4, Gracie Skoyen 1.

3-pointers: Neibauer 2; Fouls: Chinook 11, Turner 10; Fouled out: None.