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

The Hays/Lodge Pole Thunderbirds secured the number one

overall seed at The District 9C Tournament this past weekend as

they completed a undefeated conference schedule with a 66-57

win over the Box Elder Bears in Hays Saturday night.

The Bears led early 22 - 18 but the Thunderbirds took the lead

37-35 by intermission following a strong second quarter effort.

The Thunderbirds continued to increase their lead after the

break outscoring the Bears in the second half 29-22. Senior

Tyson Shambo led the Thunderbirds with 16 points a junior

Lance Strike added 14 and Senior Frank RunsAbove 12 in the

win.

The Thunderbirds began the week's action with a convincing

and thrilling 100-69 win over the Roy/Winifred Outlaws Friday

night. The Thunderbirds scored 50 points in both the first and

second half coasting to another lopsided win.

Shambo knocked down 26 for the Thunderbirds while senior

Jace Shambo contributed 19 and Strike 13 as the Thunderbirds

finished 17-1 overall and 14-0 in conference play.

The Chinook Sugarbeeters locked up the number three seed

Friday night with a defensive 35-20 win over the North Star

Knights.

Chinook outscored North Star 12-2 in the opening quarter and

led 16-10 at the intermission. The 'Beeters extended the lead

to 29-16 by the start of the fourth quarter before securing the

15-point win.

Sophomore Cord Schneider led the 'Beeter effort with 12

points in the contest.

Saturday night the Sugarbeeters traveled to Fort Benton to face

the Longhorns in the regular season finale for the two teams.

The first half action was controlled by strong defensive play

in a low-scoring contest the opening 16 minutes as Chinook led

18-16 at the break.

The Longhorns had all the ingredients to pull off the upset

but the Chinook Sugarbeeters survived a three-point barrage

that included seven from beyond the arc from the Longhorns to

secure a hard fought 51-48 conference win.

The Sugarbeeters finish the regular season with a 13-5 overall

record, 9-5 in conference play and will earn the number three

seed entering the district 9C tournament.

The 9C gets underway today in Havre with girls action while

the boys tournament begins tomorrow and will include the

number one seed Hays/Lodge Pole Thunderbirds facing the

number eight seed Chester-Joplin-Inverness Hawks at 11 a.m.

Thursday morning.

The Sugarbeeters open their tournament against the Big Sandy

Pioneers at 4:30 p.m. while the Turner Tornadoes will begin play

against the number two seeded Box Elder Bears at 5:30 p.m.

The top three teams from the District 9C Tournament will

advance to the Northern C Divisional next weekend in Great

Falls at the Four Seasons Arena.

The Thunderbirds enter The District 9C as the favorites,

having gone undefeated during the regular season. The Box

Elder Bears are the number two seed but have been tested twice

this season by the number three seeded Chinook Sugarbeeters.

The Sugarbeeter only conference loss outside of the Bears and

Randy Perez/Keri Hanson photos

Frank RunsAbove

the Thunderbirds is to the North Star Knights in mid January

but the Sugarbeeters avenged that loss the last weekend of the

regular season with a 15-point victory.

The Harlem Wildcats were winless during District 2B play and

begin their postseason Thursday at 6:30 p.m. in Malta against the

Wolf Point Wolves

Tournament time means some crazy things are possible and

anything can happen. While everybody thinks they know what

they're talking about, nobody really knows till the final buzzer

sounds late Saturday night.