Chinook goes 2-2 at District 9C, finishes fourth as season comes to an end
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Keith Hanson
Senior Ian McIntosh attacked the heart of the North Star defense with a vengeance in the 'Beeters 47-44 opening round win over the Knights Wednesday at the District 9C tournament. McIntosh scored a team high 14 points in the contest
The Chinook Sugarbeeters concluded their 2015-16 basketball season at the District 9C tournament in Havre this past weekend.
The team went 2-2, earning an incredible come from behind win 47-44 over the North Star Knights in the opener. In addition the 'Beeters overcame a sluggish start against the Fort Benton Longhorns to finish strong in picking up a 56-33 win.
Chinook was defeated in the semifinal round by the top seeded Box Elder Bears 92-49.
The 'Beeters fell in the consolation final to the Hays/Lodge Pole Thunderbirds 85-69 thus ending their season.
The battle between the fourth seeded Sugarbeeters and the fifth seeded Knights was certainly a tale of two half's.
North Star came at the 'Beeters with an aggressive attack that the young Sugarbeeters struggled with early on.
The Knights lead 10-6 after one quarter of action and 26-12 at the break following a fifty foot bomb to end the first half.
The 'Beeters are a very young team with as many as five freshman starting or seeing regular action.
It's difficult for a veteran team to respond to a half that they experienced but this group came out and took the game right to North Star.
Freshman Isaac Bell scored seconds into the third quarter and junior Kyler Johnson took a pass from senior Ian McIntosh to trip the deficit to 26-16.
Chinook was only getting started as McIntosh would score in the last moments before freshman Cord Schneider took a pass from Johnson for a bucket. Bell took a beautiful back door pass from McIntosh to make the score 28-22 in favor of the Knights.
Bell connected from the charity stripe and found McIntosh down low for a score and Schneider made a nice move to get a bucket from the high post. Bell then followed with a offensive rebound and score on the 'Beeters next possession.
Johnson then stepped in front of the inbound pass for a quick score and converted the old fashioned three point play knotting the game at 32-32 with :20.1 to play in the third.
Schneider and junior Robert Smith each scored four points, Bell converted a pair of free throws and McIntosh added a three-point play of his own to put Chinook on top 45-37.
The 'Beeters would hold on for the 47-44 win. McIntosh paced the effort with 14 points while Schneider added 12 and Bell 11.
Against the Bears, McIntosh tossed in 10 points as did Schneider.
Keith Hanson
Freshman Isaac Bell scores an easy basket in Friday mornings contest with the Fort Benton Longhorns.
The game with Fort Benton started just as planned as Chinook led 15-3 after one quarter of action. The next sixteen minutes deviated a bit as the Longhorns outscored Chinook 21-16 as the 'Beeters led just 31-24 entering the fourth quarter.
The offense found high gear the final eight minutes scoring 25 points in the frame to earn the 56-33 win and advance to the consolation final.
McIntosh and Bell led the offensive effort with 13 points. Schneider chipped in a dozen.
In the consolation final against the Thunderbirds it was Schneider with a team high 25 points, McIntosh chipped in 16 and Bell 14.
The 'Beeters conclude their season with a 13-9 overall record.
The team graduates only one, but McIntosh's leadership will certainly be missed at the point guard position. Chinook however returns a ton of talent with the remainder of the roster.
