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

The Harlem Lady Cats Volleyball team came out on top of the Native American Classic in Rocky Boy this past Saturday, defeating the Box Elder Bears in the Championship match. The Chinook Sugarbeeters turned in an impressive effort this past week as well. Thursday night they began District 6C-East Conference play with a 3-0 win over the visiting Big Sandy Pioneers. Friday and Saturday they took part in the prestigious 37th Annual Chinook Invitational Volleyball Tournament, which features some of the best Class B and Class C teams in the area.

The Lady Cats swept through the competition at the Native American Classic. In Pool play they defeated the Rocky Boy Morning Stars 25-8, then toppled the Hays/Lodge Pole Thunderbirds 25-3. Following a set back to the Poplar Indians, 20-25, the Lady Cats bounced back to defeat the Box Elder Bears 25-24.

In tournament play Harlem continued their strong play on the court. They began with a 25-8, 25-24, 2-0 match win over the Poplar Indians to advance to the Championship match against Box Elder. In the finale they were victorious, winning 25-18, 25-15.

"The girls played with a lot of determination and pride, they wanted to prove something this past weekend and I say they got the job done. All of our girls played great as a team," said Head Coach Kim Faulkinberry. "We were able to jump out on some teams and keep the lead and in others we had the lead and lost it but battled back to get the win. The perfect example was when we played Box Elder the first time in pool play. We had the lead gave it up and battled back from 20 -24 to win the match 25-24."

Faulkinberry is pleased with her teams early season success, "We want to use this success and build on it and get hungry for more wins. We will strive to get better each week and match. It is a long season, and we are building for the end. All the girls from C Squad, JV, And Varsity have been working very hard in the gym to better themselves."

The Chinook Sugarbeeters started fast Thursday night as they began District 6C-East Conference play. The Big Sandy Pioneers were the visitors on the court and the Sugarbeeters welcomed them to town with a 25-12 first set win.

The 'Beeters closed out the Pioneers with a 25-18 win in set number two and a 25-21 win in set three to sweep the match.

Junior Hailey Bell tallied seven kills in the win, junior setter Ginger Hauer recorded 14 assists.

Friday and Saturday the 'Beeters were at home taking part in the 37th annual Chinook Invitational Volleyball Tournament.

The 'Beeters began Pool play with a come from behind 25-24, 9-9 win over the Malta M-ettes, scoring the final four points of the match. They added pool play wins over Highwood/Geraldine (24-25, 6-3) and Valier (23-25, 11-8) and a loss to the Shelby Coyotes (25-24, 12-12) to finish Pool play at 3-1.

Saturday the 'Beeters fell to the Cut Bank Wolves in a quarterfinal match 25-21, 19-25, 12-10. Chinook bounced back with a three set win over Malta 25-17, 19-25, 12-9.

In the consolation semi-final Chinook challenged Highwood/Geraldine Rivals, winning in two sets, 25-17, 25-18 to advance to the consolation final.

The 'Beeters played well in sets one and two, splitting the sets 25-20, 22-25. Chinook's serve receive would get the better of them in the third set tie breaker as they fell 15-4 to finish fourth in the tournament.

Over the course of the two day tournament Bell led the 'Beeters with 34 kills while junior Delaney Kellam added 26. Junior Jayden Miller recorded 15 kills and freshman Bree Swanson 11 for Chinook.

Junior Ginger Hauer set up the hitters with 80 assists while Miller dug up 55 balls for the defense. Kellam added 46 digs to the 'Beeter effort.

"Overall I was pleased with the weekend," stated Head Coach Paula Molyneaux. "It started with a conference win over Big Sandy and ended with a 4th place finish in our own tourney. Granted I think that minus one bad set, we were in good position to beat Shelby for 3rd, but unfortunately, we let that one bad set creep up on us."

Looking at the team's effort on the court, Molyneaux seen a lot she liked, " I was extremely pleased with our defensive play and serving. As a team our goal is to have 90% of our serves in the court. We were 90% on Friday and almost 92% on Saturday. In addition, we were out sized by every team that we played, but the Sugarbeeter girls never gave up and entertained the crowd, plus sometimes surprised themselves with some pretty crazy defensive play."

The 'Beeters are a very resilient team but lack height, "In order to beat those teams that outsize us at the net, we must keep the ball in play and wear them down and these girls consistently did just that," added Molyneaux.

Looking forward Molyneaux is happy with the direction her team is headed, "As a goal, we need to continue to work hard at defense and to improve our service reception numbers. It was our service reception that melted down in that final set loss against Shelby in the consolation championship."

The 'Beeters will remain at home for their next two matches, hosting the North Star Knights this Friday in a huge District 6C-East clash. Tuesday they will welcome the Malta M-ettes to town.

Harlem will host Rocky Boy on Thursday, Glasgow on Saturday and Box Elder next Monday.

Chinook Invitational

Friday Pool Play

Pool A - Chinook def. Malta 25-24, 9-9; Highwood/Geraldine def. Valier 25-17, 18-16; Shelby def. Malta 25-18, 13-16; Chinook def. Highwood/Geraldine 24-25, 6-3; Shelby def. Valier 25-18, 25-4; Highwood/Geraldine def. Malta 25-9, 20-20; Shelby def. Chinook 25-24, 12-12; Malta def. Valier 25-17, 16-14; Shelby def. Highwood/Geraldine 25-14, 20-18; Chinook def. Valier 23-25, 11-8.

Pool B - Glasgow def. Chester/J.I. 25-13, 25-14; Cut Bank def. Tri-Cities 25-20, 21-15; Glasgow def. Simms 25-24, 17-11; Tri-Cities def. Chester/J.I. 25-24, 22-13; Simms def. Cut Bank 25-12, 22-13; Glasgow def. Tri-Cities 25-21, 19-12; Simms def. Chester/J.I. 25-12, 22-13; Glasgow def. Cut Bank 20-25, 20-11; Tri-Cities def. Simms 25-13, 25-10; Cut Bank def. Chester/J.I.

Saturday Tournament

Round 1 - Simms def. Valier25-17, 25-8; Malta def. Chester/J.I 25-12, 25-21

Quarterfinals - Highwood/Geraldine def. Tri-Cities 24-25, 25-23, 14-13; Simms def. Shelby 25-23, 25-11; Glasgow def. Malta 25-16, 25-12; Cut Bank def. Chinook 25-21, 19-25, 12-10.

Loser Out – Shelby def. Chester/J.I 25-8, 25-16; Malta def. Valier 24-25, 25-13, 15-6; Shelby def. Tri-Cities 25-24, 25-20; Chinook def. Malta 25-17, 19-25, 12-9

Semi Finals – Simms def. Highwood/Geraldine 25-24, 24-25, 12-11; Glasgow def. Cut Bank 25-19, 25-12

Loser Out – Shelby def. Cut Bank 25-22, 25-14; Chinook def. Highwood/Geraldine 25-17, 25-18

Consolation Championship – Shelby def. Chinook 25-20, 22-25, 15-4

Championship – Glasgow def. Simms 25-20, 25-18

Native American Classic

Chinook freshman Bree Swanson looks for a spot to place the ball Saturday morning.

Pool play:

Harlem defeated Rocky Boy 25-8

Harlem defeated Hays 25-3

Harlem lost to Poplar 20-25

Harlem defeated Box Elder 25-24

Tournament Play:

Semifinal

Harlem defeated Poplar 25-8, 25-24

Championship

Harlem defeated Box Elder 25-18, 25-15