The high school boys basketball season is coming to a chaotic close with just the Chinook Sugarbeeters and Harlem Wildcats still standing.

The District 9C tournament took place this past week and before the first game was even played COVID-19 struck the tournament. The Hays/Lodge Pole Thunderbirds made the tough decision to cancel their season after protocols were implemented.

The Thunderbird withdrawal from the tournament was felt early on and through cautious measures led to the cancellation of the semifinal contest between the Chinook Sugarbeeters and the Box Elder Bears. The Bears and the Thunderbirds played the previous weekend. After clearing Rapid COVID-19 tests the Bears returned to the tournament.

The Sugarbeeters began the tournament with a sound defeat of the Turner Tornadoes in Chinook on Tuesday night. Senior Ethan Bell made a living from beyond the arc, draining five triples in the win. Bell scored 34 points in the contest to lead the offensive attack.

With their semifinal contest Thursday night canceled, it was off to the championship on Saturday where they took on familiar foe, Fort Benton. The Longhorns had earned two nail biting wins in the regular season and again the Longhorns claimed a victory, 57-40.

Chinook will head to the Northern C Divisional as the No. 2 seed out of the District 9C. The Sugarbeeters will look to contend once again and will begin play at 1:00 p.m. Thursday afternoon against the Hearty Butte Warriors, the No. 2 Seed out of the District 10C. The Northern C Divisional is again being played the Four Seasons Arena in Great Falls. The top two teams at the Northern C will advance to the State C Tournament in Billings March 10-13.

The Turner Tornadoes took on the Chester/Joplin-Inverness Hawks in loser out action Wednesday afternoon and had their season conclude with a 54-45 setback. The Tornadoes turned a 17-4 deficit at the end of the first quarter into a 22-21 halftime advantage but the Hawks were to much down the stretch in the season ending loss. Senior Shane Kimmel paced the Tornado effort with 16 points.

The Harlem Wildcats began the week with resounding thumping of the Malta Mustangs. The Wildcats bounced back in a big way from a large loss at home to the Mustangs just three days prior. Malta had taken down the Wildcats on Saturday 77-54. Tuesday in Malta Harlem returned the favor and then some.

The Wildcats took a 19-13 lead after the first quarter and steadily added to it the remainder of the contest. Harlem pushed the lead to 34-18 by halftime and had opened up a 35 point lead by the end of the third quarter, 55-30. Harlem earned the season split with the Mustangs following the 74-46 win. Junior RJ Ramone was money from distance, knocking down five triples and scoring 34 points in the win.

The rest of the week didn't go so well as the Wolf Point Wolves earned a 68-58 win over the Wildcats on Thursday giving each team a win on their home court. The win was especially hard to swallow as it took the top seed at the District Tournament out of their control. Ramone turned in another huge effort, draining six threes and scoring 26 points in the loss.

Saturday, Harlem was in Poplar where it was the Indians that picked up a 70-68 win. The Wildcats had earned a narrow high scoring win just one week ago as the teams split the season series. Harlem took a five point lead into the fourth quarter, 56-51, but it was the Indians that had the last run. Ramone again turned in a solid performance with 24 points to lead the team. Junior Tyler Cichosz added 21 in the contest.

Heading into the District 2B Tournament in Wolf Point this weekend the Wildcats will hold the No. 2 Seed. They will begin play Thursday evening at 7:30 against the No. 3 Seed Glasgow Scotties. Harlem swept the Scotties in two regular season contests this year. By virtue of their No. 2 Seed the Wildcats have already qualified for the Northern B Divisional in Cut Bank, March 4-6. The top two teams at the Northern B Divisional will advance to the Class B State Tournament in Billings March 10-13.

Harlem 74 Malta 46

Harlem 19 15 21 19 - 74

Malta 13 5 12 16 - 46

Harlem - RJ Ramone 13 1-2 33, Daniel Lawrence 2 0-0 5, Tyler Cichosz 3 0-0 7, Jehton Long Fox 2 0-0 5, Trent Main 5 3-4 13, Cassius Johnson 3 0-1 6, Teagan LeValdo 1 0-0 2, Andrew Rasmussen 0 0-0 0, DeShon Shambo 0 2-2 2, Amari Stanley 1 0-0 2. Team Totals 30 6-9 74.

Malta - Seth Siewing 1 0-0 2, Kooper Oxarart 2 4-8 9, Darrow Messerly 0 0-2 0, Jonathan Siewing 1 0-1 2, Jared Eggebrecht 1 0-0 2, Rex Williamson 6 4-4 18, Kaden Bishop 0 0-0 0, Connor Tuss 4 3-4 11, Carson Ottinger 0 2-2 2, Pierce Mortenson 1 0-0 2. Team Totals 16 11-19 46.

Three Point Field Goals - Harlem 8 (RJ Ramone 5, Daniel Lawrence 1, Tyler Cichosz 1, Jehton Long Fox 1), Malta 3 (Kooper Oxarart 1, Rex Williamson 2); Team Fouls - Harlem 18, Malta 12; Fouled Out - None.

Wolf Point 68 Harlem 58

Harlem 12 13 16 17 - 58

Wolf Point 17 21 18 12 - 68

Harlem - RJ Ramone 9 2-2 26, Daniel Lawrence 4 0-0 8, Tyler Cichosz 4 1-3 10, Cassius Johnson 0 0-0 0, Trent Main 1 0-0 2, Teagan LeValdo 2 0-0 5, Jehton Long Fox 3 0-0 7, Andrew Rasmussen 0 0-0 0, DeShon Shambo 0 0-0 0, Amari Stanley 0 0-0 0. Team Totals 23 3-5 58.

Wolf Point - Kelby Bauer 3 3-5 9, Zander Ackerman 2 2-3 6, Kraven Silk 1 0-0 2, Antone Manning 7 2-3 16, Ethan Blount 0 0-0 0, Corey Martell 2 0-0 4, Hunter Rainingbird 0 0-0 0, August Spottedwolf 0 0-0 0, Jaxon Azure 0 0-0 0, Gaige Bushman 13 2-3 31, Shastin Damon 0 0-0 0, Jack Sprague 0 0-0 0. Team Totals 28 9-14 68.

Three Point Field Goals - Harlem 9 (, RJ Ramone 6, Tyler Cichosz 1, Jehton Long Fox 1, Teagan LeValdo 1), Wolf Point 3 (Gaige Bushman 3); Team Fouls - Harlem 19, Wolf Point 12; Fouled Out - Wolf Point (Zander Ackerman).

Poplar 70 Harlem 68

Poplar 18 15 18 19 - 70

Harlem 20 14 22 12 - 68

Harlem - RJ Ramone 8 8-9 24, Daniel Lawrence 4 0-0 9, Tyler Cichosz 9 2-6 21, Cassius Johnson 1 0-0 2, Trent Main 0 0-0 0, Teagan LeValdo 1 0-0 3, Jehton Long Fox 0 0-0 02, Andrew Rasmussen 0 0-0 0, Amari Stanley 1 2-4 4, DaShon Shambo 1 0-1 2. Team Totals 25 12-20 68.

Poplar - Geordy Medicine Cloud 0 2-2 4, Delrae Lilley 6 0-0 15, Elijah GreyBear 0 0-0 0, Wilfred Lambert 3 7-10 16, J. Bear 3 0-0 7, Inyan Growing Thunder 6 4-6 16, William Youngman 1 0-0 2, Preston Ogle 0 0-0 0, Dennis Red Eagle 5 2-2 12. Team Totals 24 15-20 70.

Three Point Field Goals - Harlem 6 (Tyler Cichosz 3, RJ Ramone 1, Daniel Lawrence 1, Teagan LeValdo 1), Poplar 7 (Wilfred Lambert 3, Delrae Lilley 3, J. Bear 1); Team Fouls - Harlem 29, Poplar 17; Fouled Out - None.

Chinook 78 Turner 48 (QF)

Chinook 29 17 12 20 - 78

Turner 7 12 21 8 - 48

Chinook - Levi Jensen 0 0-0 0, Ethan Bell 11 7-8 34, Damon Hannum 1 0-2 2, Flint Annis 2 0-0 4, Braden Eoff 0 0-2 0, Benton Elliot 5 0-0 10, Toby Niederegger 4 4-4 12, Reese Elliot 0 0-0 0, Ethan MacLeod 0 1-2 1, Oskar Pula 5 0-0 10, Braxton Inman 1 0-0 2, Jackson Nordboe 1 1-1 3. Team Totals 30 13-18 78.

Turner - Shay Humphreys 0 1-2 1, Austin Welsh 4 4-7 14, Chantry Jorgenson 0 0-0 0, Tate Beck 0 0-0 0, Shane Kimmel 9 2-4 21, Caleb Zellmer 0 0-0 0, Charlie Calvert 1 0-2 2, Trent Billmayer 1 0-0 2, Carson Maloney 0 2-2 2, Ryan Doyle 1 1-2 4, Trevor Kimmel 0 2-3 2. Team Totals 16 12-22 48.

Three Point Field Goals - Chinook 5 (Ethan Bell 5), Turner 4 (Austin Welsh 2, Shane Kimmel 1, Ryan Doyle 1); Team Fouls - Chinook 12, Turner 16; Fouled Out - None.

Fort Benton 57 Chinook 55 (Championship)

Fort Benton 18 14 12 13 - 57

Chinook 10 13 11 6 - 40

Fort Benton - Devin Bird 6 2-4 14, Jace Thompson 1 0-0 3, Nick Marias 3 0-5 7, Hayden Diekhans 8 5-6 22, Cody Evans 3 0-0 7, Billy Ullery 1 2-3 4, Jackson Schmele 0 0-0 0. Team Totals 22 9-18 57.

Chinook - Wylee Simenson 0 0-0 0, Ethan Bell 5 0-1 11, Damon Hannum 0 0-1 0, Flint Annis 0 0-0 0, Braden Eoff 0 0-0 0, Benton Elliot 0 0-0 0, Toby Niederegger 4 1-6 11, Reese Elliot 2 2-2 6, Ethan MacLeod 0 1-2 1, Oskar Pula 5 1-3 11, Jackson Nordboe 0 0-0 0. Team Totals 16 5-15 40.

Three Point Field Goals - Fort Benton 4 (Jace Thompson 1, Nick Marias 1, , Hayden Diekhans 1, Cody Evans 1), Chinook 3 (Toby Niederegger 2, Ethan Bell 1); Team Fouls - Fort Benton 16, Chinook 17; Fouled Out - None.

Chester/J-I 54 Turner 45

Turner 4 18 13 10 - 45

Chester/J-I 17 4 19 14 - 54

Chinook senior Ethan Bell pulls up for long jumper in the District 9C finale. The 'Beeters will take the District 9C No. 2 Seed into the Northern C Divisional in Great Falls this week. They will begin play, Thursday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. against the District 10C No. 2 Seed Heart Butte Warriors.

Turner - Shay Humphreys 0, Austin Welsh 11, Tate Beck 0, Shane Kimmel 16, Caleb Zellmer 0, Charlie Calvert 1, Trent Billmayer 3, Carson Maloney 0, Ryan Doyle 12, Trever Kimmel 2. Team Totals N/A 45.

Chester/J-I - Bryce Ghekiere 0, Braden Mattson 4, Kyle Harmon 18, Jordan Bender 0, Bryce Kammerzell 2, Blake Harmon 19, Trevin Grammar 2, Kealy Haaland 9. Team Totals - N/A 54.