The high school basketball and wrestling teams have been enjoying the holidays like the rest of us but they have also been hard at work preparing for their next competition.

The Chinook Sugarbeeter boys, and the Harlem Ladycat girls basketball teams entered the break with identical 5-1 records and sit at the top of their respective districts while the Turner Tornado girls closed out 2017 at 4-2.

The Sugarbeeter wrestling team has been improving greatly from week to week to begin the season and closed out 2017 with a stellar showing in Shelby with four pool champions of five wrestlers in attendance.

There were four weeks of competition prior to the break with the Chinook, Harlem and Turner basketball teams playing six games and the Hays/Lodge Pole Thunderbirds five due to weather conditions.

Coaches and the student athletes themselves were able to look back on those games and access where they were successful as well as what they need to improve on.

The time in between competitions range from 13 days to 17 days for local teams. That time provided plenty of time to make adjustments, add in new wrinkles and work on fundamentals in preparing for their first competition of 2018.

The following is a overview of the season for our local varsity sports teams.

Boys Basketball

Chinook Sugarbeeters 5-1, 4-0

The Chinook Sugarbeeters entered the break on a roll having won four straight District 9C contests.

The Sugarbeeters began the season with a lopsided 64-21 win over the Dutton/Brady Diamondbacks at the Chester Tip-off Tournament.

They then faced the Sunburst Refiners in one of the most intense early season games a basketball could hope to see. Chinook fell 71-69 on a three point bomb at the buzzer in a game that had all the feel of a post season game.

The 'Beeters began play in the District 9C with a 88-56 win over the Hays/Lodge Pole Thunderbirds and 68-23 win over the Big Sandy Pioneers.

Week two of conference play saw the Sugarbeeters top the Box Elder Bears 70-51 and the Chester-Joplin-Inverness Hawks 69-34.

The 'Beeters have gotten solid contributions from up and down the lineup on both sides of the ball and have multiple options outside and in to put points on the board.

Chinook has four players averaging at least ten points. Junior Isaac Bell heads this pouring in 18.7 points per outing while also averaging 3.5 assists and 2.5 steals per game.

Junior Riley Kellam has commanded the paint for the 'Beeters averaging a double/double with 14.5 points and 10.2 rebounds per contest and is shooting 64% from the field.

Junior Cord Schneider puts in 12 points per contest while averaging 7.2 rebounds. Sophomore Hunter Neibauer has contributed 10.3 points per game and is third on the team with 5.7 rebounds.

The 'Beeters have been solid on defense as well averaging more than 13 steals and nearly four block shots per game. Junior Trajan Hannum leads the team with 10 charges taken including four in the first quarter in a win over Box Elder.

"The team and I are focusing on cleaning up a few things offensively with the timing and spacing in our set plays as well as adding a few more 'wrinkles' to place personnel into better scoring opportunities," stated Head Coach Mike Seymour.

Through the break Seymour has been liking what he's seen from his team thus far and is excited about what's coming next, "I have been impressed with the entire team and their willingness to sacrifice personal glory for team success. With 6'6" Brendan Edwards coming back and not having played a game yet, this is a definite advantage for us as he had secured a starting position before he went down with his injury."

With the return of Edwards to the rotation some adjustments have to be made, "We're also working on 'combinations' of players and substitution patterns with him being back in the lineup. Having James (Christensen) and Ethan (Bell) along with Brendan coming off the bench allows us to maintain our level of play. I feel like we need to work harder on the defensive end of the floor and play better team defense for the entire 32 minutes," added Seymour.

Seymour has his team focused, "We are striving to improve from practice to practice and game to game as the season progresses."

Harlem Ladycats 5-1, 2-0

The Harlem Ladycat basketball team is off to a fine start this season as third year Head Coach Laramie Schwenke has her team turning heads across the Northern B.

Harlem began the season with a split the opening weekend racing past the Browning JV 50-25 and falling to the Box Elder Bears 80-41.

Harlem responded the following weekend with a 64-34 shellacking of the Malta M-ettes to begin District 2B play. They then defeated the Wolf Point Wolves in a thriller 48-46 to start 2-0 in conference play.

Harlem then closed out 2017 with wins over pair of District 1B opponents. First they outlasted the Rocky Boy Morning Stars in overtime and then thumped the Cut Bank Wolves 62-45 to win their fourth straight.

The Ladycats have multiple players that can light up the scoreboard including senior Mystic Striker, juniors Autumn Eagleman and Skylee Dirden as well as sophomore L'Tia Lawrence.

"I'm excited about the start we've gotten off to this season. The girls have set their goals and are working extremely hard to achieve them one step at a time. Practices through the break haven't been much different, emphasizing staying focused and continuing to improve ourselves each day," commented Schwenke.

Girls Basketball

Turner Tornadoes 4-2, 2-1

The Turner Tornado girls basketball team was the first to take the courts this season picking up a split at the Class C Showcase in Glasgow the first weekend of December.

The Tornadoes edged Lustre Christian 49-38 before falling to North Country 50-37. The girls then began District 9C play with a hard fought 37-36 win over the North Star Knights followed by a 57-39 loss to the Fort Benton Longhorns.

Turner closed out 2017 with a pair of wins over Chester-Joplin-Inverness Hawks 66-37 and the Dodson Coyotes 54-34 to enter the break with a 4-2 record.

Turner has plenty of experience as juniors Raegan Conlan, Riley Conlan and Melanie Watkins begin their fourth season of varsity ball while sophomore Sarah Billmayer is in her third.

Head Coach Jen Baird is happy with her teams performance so far, "The girls got off to a good start this season. The 2 conference wins really gave our confidence a boost. We're building on that momentum over the holiday break to come out strong the first of the year." She went on to say, "We had some tough games before the break that showed us what we're doing well, but mainly those games told us what we need to work on. We're looking forward to continuing the season and displaying all the hard work and dedication these girls are putting into this team."

Boys Basketball

Hays/Lodge Pole Thunderbirds 3-2, 2-1

The Hays/Lodge Pole boys basketball team qualified for the state tournament a season ago where they earned a fourth place finish.

Graduation and transfers took a toll on this years Thunderbird squad but Head Coach Derrick Shambo does have two key components returning in seniors Chance Main and David Main.

The Thunderbirds began the season in Billings at the All American Indian Shootout where they defeated Brockton 71-47 and fell to Lodge Grass 73-51.

They opened District 9C play the following week with a 88-56 setback to Chinook before rebounding to defeat the Chester/J-I 53-42.

The Thunderbirds defeated North Star 55-35 to conclude 2017. A game with the Big Sandy Pioneers was postponed to a later date. The Thunderbirds will begin 2018 with a 3-2 overall record and a 2-1 mark.

Head Coach Derrick Shambo has a feel for where his team is at, "We started our season a bit on the nervous side being that we only had two returning Varsity players from last year's team and a lot of new faces and JV players stepping into significant roles for our team this year."

Shambo pointed sees his team gaining confidence, "We had a tough win against North Star. That win gave our team and players a lot more confidence going into the break and I had several players step up and find their role on the team. "

"A couple things we need to do better is to communicate on the defensive end and to have a lot more movement on offense. As a team we were out rebounded and need to box out and crash the boards and make it a team effort," said Shambo. " During the break we did a lot of shooting drills, transition drills, rebounding drills, different variations of screens to set and conditioning."

When the Thunderbirds take the court in 2018 Shambo has expectations, "I hope to see our team have better movement and motion on offense and rebound as team a lot better. If we can keep up our intensity on defense we'll be a tough outing for any team. I believe we'll be competing for one of the three spots to move onto divisionals. Other than Chinook, most of the teams are on a level playing field and it's going to be a exciting District 9C tournament to see what teams step up their play and advances."

Girls Basketball

Graduation and transfers took a toll on this years Thunderbird squad but Head Coach Derrick Shambo does have two key components returning in seniors Chance Main and David Main.

The Thunderbirds began the season in Billings at the All American Indian Shootout where they defeated Brockton 71-47 and fell to Lodge Grass 73-51.

They opened District 9C play the following week with a 88-56 setback to Chinook before rebounding to defeat the Chester/J-I 53-42.

The Thunderbirds defeated North Star 55-35 to conclude 2017. A game with the Big Sandy Pioneers was postponed to a later date. The Thunderbirds will begin 2018 with a 3-2 overall record and a 2-1 mark.

Head Coach Derrick Shambo has a feel for where his team is at, “We started our season a bit on the nervous side being that we only had two returning Varsity players from last year’s team and a lot of new faces and JV players stepping into significant roles for our team this year.”

Shambo sees his team gaining confidence, “We had a tough win against North Star. That win gave our team and players a lot more confidence going into the break and I had several players step up and find their role on the team.”

“A couple things we need to do better is to communicate on the defensive end and to have a lot more movement on offense. As a team we were out rebounded and need to box out and crash the boards and make it a team effort,” said Shambo. “ During the break we did a lot of shooting drills, transition drills, rebounding drills, different variations of screens to set and conditioning.”

When the Thunderbirds take the court in 2018 Shambo has expectations, “I hope to see our team have better movement and motion on offense and rebound as team a lot better. If we can keep up our intensity on defense we’ll be a tough outing for any team. I believe we’ll be competing for one of the three spots to move onto divisionals. Other than Chinook, most of the teams are on a level playing field and it’s going to be a exciting District 9C tournament to see what teams step up their play and advance.”

Girls Basketball

Chinook Sugarbeeters 3-3, 1-3

The Chinook Sugarbeeter girls basketball team is under the direction of first year head coach Lesa MacLeod and began the season with a pair of wins over the Dutton/Brady Diamondbacks 34-23 and the Sunburst Refiners 65-11.

Chinook later defeated the Big Sandy Pioneers 51-30 but suffered losses to the Hays/Lodge Pole Thunderbirds, Box Elder Bears and Chester/J-I Hawks to finish 2017 3-3.

“We are spending our break getting healthy as we have yet to have our full roster for a game this season. Riddled with illness and injury, we are hoping to have our team at full force by the middle of January,” stated MacLeod.

“In the meantime, we are working with the healthy players to learn new and different positions. We are focusing on toughness and defensive strategies, as well as working to improve our shooting and shot selection. Heading into the new year, we are hoping to improve our record by working together as a team and coming out ready to play each night,” said MacLeod

Girls Basketball

Hays/Lodge Pole Thunderbirds 1-4, 1-2

Corey Morgan returns to the sideline this season to lead the Hays/Lodge Pole Thunderbird girls basketball team.

The Thunderbirds have been up and down so far this season and have been competitive. The Thunderbirds picked up a 37-32 win over Chinook and have lost to Lame Deer, Wolf Point, Chester/J-I and North Star as well.

“We are improving every day, the girls have a lot of potential and athleticism we just need to sync together and gain that experience that comes with being young,” said Morgan.

Morgan has a game-plan for his team, “We had a little trouble with transition defense and confidence. We have been working hard all break on defense, skill building, and working to be better as a team. I like our chances at tournament time the girls are gaining confidence and experience and that’s what we need. I’m excited to see what the girls are going to be capable of come tournament time.

Chinook Sugarbeeter Wrestling

The Chinook Sugarbeeters are overall a young wrestling team and have experienced a few learning curves to begin the season but have shown a willingness to get in the room and work hard to flip losses into wins.

The Sugarbeeters have also had to overcome adversity as freshman Austin Swanson suffered a severe concussion at the CMR Holiday Classic and is currently recovering.

The ‘Beeters closed out 2017 with a fine showing at the Shelby Invitational on December 22nd.

The Sugarbeeters took five wrestlers to Shelby with four of them winning their respective Pool. Freshman Rebecca Stroh competed at 113 pounds for the Sugarbeeters.

Pool champions included senior Garrett Pruttis who competed at 120 pounds, sophomore J.T. Hauer at 152 pounds, freshman Favion Couturier at 160 pounds and sophomore Reubin Swenson at 205.

“The team has been pushing hard through the Christmas and New Year Holidays,” said Coach Perry Miller. “The kids have really been working hard and showing a strong desire and will to get better.”

“The coaching staff (Miller, Robin Stroh and Adam Tilleman” feels like we have had a great set of holiday practices with our High School team, but along with our progress at the High School level, Ben Stroh and Willie Miller have been hosting a wrestling clinic for all ages over the vacation and all of the attendees are picking up valuable technique,” added Miller.

The team will look to have a strong second half of the season when it begins this week in Chester, “We are looking forward to 2018 getting back in the swing of competition heading into the post seasons. Our wrestlers have been working hard and are ready to step it up a level, we’re excited to see the improvement after the break. We been working on every aspect of competition both mental and physical and the kids are ready to prove themselves,” concluded Miller

Boys Basketball

Harlem Wildcats 2-4, 2-0

The Harlem Wildcats concluded 2017 with a 2-4 overall record but are also 2-0 in District 2B play.

The Wildcats fell to the Heart Butter Warriors 74-70 and the Arlee Warriors 73-51 at the Native American Classic in Pablo to begin the season.

They then defeated the Malta Mustangs 59-53 and the Wolf Point Wolves 59-56 as District 2B play got underway.

The Wildcats closed out 2017 with a pair losses on the road to District 1B foes Rocky Boy (72-61) and Cut Bank (30-28).

Boys Basketball

Turner Tornadoes 2-4, 1-2

The Turner Tornadoes will begin 2018 with a 2-4 overall record and a 1-2 mark in District 9C play.

The Tornadoes earned a split during their first weekend of action at the Class C Showcase in Glasgow falling to Frazer 97-78 and defeating Luster-Christian 68-63.

The Tornadoes then began District 9C play with a pair of losses to the Fort Benton Longhorns and the North Star Knights.

Turner picked up their first conference win the following Monday, a 62-55 triumph over the Chester/Joplin-Inverness Hawks. They concluded 2017 with a 57-53 non conference loss to the Dodson Coyotes.

Harlem senior Mystic Striker has been a tremendous addition this season and has helped lead her team to a 5-1 record.