The Blaine County Journal News-Opinion - We've Got The County Covered

The Winter Sports seasons finally upon us and with that comes the start of the High School Basketball and Wrestling seasons.

The Turner Tornado girls and boys basketball teams will be in action this Friday and Saturday in Glasgow at the Class C Showcase while the Chinook Sugarbeeter wrestling team will be at the Havre Invitational Friday and Saturday while the Harlem Wildcat wrestlers will be in Cascade Friday and Saturday.

The Chinook, Harlem and Hays/Lodge Pole boys and girls basketball teams will begin their seasons next week at various tournaments throughout the state.

Wrestling

The Chinook Sugarbeeter and Harlem Wildcat wrestling teams have been hard at work preparing for the 2017-18 campaign which gets underway this weekend.

The Sugarbeeters have been one of the top wrestling programs in all of Class C, having won multiple State Championships. This years squad has been working hard, top, middle and bottom and are excited to get started.

The ‘Beeters are again coached by Perry Miller, Adam Tilleman and Robin Stroh. This trio has had plenty of success putting together great teams and the coaches are excited about this group, “Their work ethic has been wonderful. We’ve been working on our feet, on take downs, escapes and pinning combinations,” said Miller.

The room has been filled with kids working hard every practice and the coaches are excited about their potential, “Everyone is eligible to wrestle this weekend, their attitude has been great and now it’s time to get out their and see wear we are at,” added Miller.

This years team is led by seniors Colton Liddle and Garrett Lowham along with juniors Tye Mitchell and Ross Reed.

Sophomores Rielly Wiegand, Reubin Swenson and J.T. Hauer return this winter and freshman Austin Swenson, Rebecca Stroh, Garrett Pruttis and Favion Courturier round out the roster.

On paper the team may be young but they don’t lack experience, “Some of those underclassman have been wrestling for nine years so they have experience on the mat,” stated Miller.

The Sugarbeeters will be at the Havre Invitational this Friday and Saturday to begin the season.

The team will then host its first Mixer of the season on Friday, December 8. They will head to Glasgow on Saturday.

The ‘Beeters will close out 2017 in Fort Benton on December 14, at the Holiday Classic in Great Falls on December 15-16 and in Shelby December 22.

They will then use the Holiday break to evaluate where they stand, make adjustments and return to the mat in January 2018 to prepare for the home stretch leading up to the Northern B/C Divisional in Malta on February 3 and the State Tournament in Billings on February 9-10.

The Harlem Wildcats will begin their season this weekend in Cascade.

Basketball

The Turner Tornado girls and boys basketball teams will kick their seasons off this weekend in Glasgow at the Class C Showcase.

While the majority of the state and the rest of the District 9C will wait until the following week to begin their seasons. The Tornadoes will get a jump on the pack with a pair of games over the weekend.

The Turner girls have been steadily building their program over the past few years posting winning records the past two seasons.

This year the team looks to take it to the next level and are ready to get the season started.

This years roster includes juniors Raegan Conlan, Melanie Watkins and Rylee Conlan. All three have been major players for the Tornadoes the past three seasons having played as eighth graders.

One sophomore, Sarah Billmayer is on the roster and she played a vital role in the teams success a season ago.

Freshman Shyan Calvert played very well as an eighth grader and will look to contribute in the paint this season.

Freshman Brooke Reed, Alaynee Hawley, Brandy Calvert and Brooke Reed will be counted on to contribute as well.

Eighth graders Laci Maloney and Lacey Hickel will be playing their first varsity ball this winter.

Head Coach Jen Baird returns for her third season at the helm and has a familiar team returning “We lost two seniors and I am also bringing up two eighth graders this season.” The rest of the roster returns plenty of playing experience.

Its always exciting to finally step on the court and get the season started, “I’m very excited to get started at the Class C Showcase preseason tourney in Glasgow. It’s always a joy to play against teams we never get to see during the regular season,” Said Baird.

Anything can happen the first time out but Baird is confident in her team, “I’m looking forward to seeing all the hard work and enthusiasm that is displayed in practice, come out on the court with our team.”

The boys are again under the direction of Head Coach Zach Holland and also return plenty of experience and talent.

Senior Eddie Harmon is back to lead the Tornadoes. Harmon is the lone senior on the roster but is an All-Conference performer from a season ago as well as a State Champion in Track and Field. His experience and speed will help lead the team.

Juniors Tracer Heilig, Kurt Calvert and Cody Welsh are back as well to provide leadership. Sophomore Jack Harmon is the lone sophomore and freshman Austin Welsh,Shane Kimmel and Ethan Heilig are back for their second seasons.

New to the roster are eighth graders Shay Humphreys and Trevor Kimmel.

“We lost only one senior, so most all of last years players are returning and I’m bringing up two eighth graders,” said

Holland. This weekend when the season gets under way Holland has some expectations, “I’m looking forward to seeing the boys back on the court and building off what we started last year. There is quite a bit of talent on the roster so this weekend I want to see the talent working as a team and hopefully kick start a successful basketball season.”

Turner opens play Friday morning with the girls playing at 9:00 a.m. The boys will take the court against Frazer at 4:30 p.m. Saturday the girls will play North Country at 3:00 p.m. and the boys will face Lustre at 4:30 p.m.