'Beeters Win Streak Grows to 4 with 59-38 win over District 9C No. 1 Big Sandy

 

January 26, 2022

Chinook senior Toby Niederegger glides to the basket for two of his game high 20 points in the 'Beeters huge 59-38 win over the Big Sandy Pioneers.

The Chinook Sugarbeeters have been on a roll with the start of the new year. Thursday night they welcomed the District 9C leading Big Sandy Pioneers to town for a huge conference clash. When the dust settled it was the Sugarbeeters that had avenged a tough December loss with a 59-38 thumping of the Pioneers.

Big Sandy entered the contest as the District 9C top seed with a 9-1 overall record and a 6-1 conference mark. The Pioneers had earned a hard fought narrow win over the Sugarbeeters back in early December and were looking for the season sweep.

Prior to the holiday break the 'Beeters struggled to play a complete game and their record reflected that. Chinook had clear stretches of great play but were often short lived or followed by a complete offensive shut down.

With the start of the new year the 'Beeters have been a completely different team and have played like a team on a mission and their record reflects it. Chinook stormed back from a big deficit late against the Harlem Wildcats to turn a lopsided contest into a seven point loss. With that strong finish the 'Beeters haven't slowed down.

Entering Thursday nights contest with the Pioneers, Chinook had secured impressive lopsided wins over Turner, North Star and Fort Benton to improve to 5-5 overall and 4-3 in conference play. A win over the Pioneers would send a huge statement to the rest of the teams in the league, and they did just that.

Big Sandy got the fast start they were looking for, but the Sugarbeeters had an answer. Senior Oskar Pula made a nice steal and drove the length of the court. Sophomore Jackson Nordboe followed with an offensive rebound put back and a free throw to quickly cut the lead to 7-3. Junior Brenden Fetter added an offensive rebound for a score moments later to trim the deficit to 10-7.

Chinook closed out the opening stanza strong, getting another score from Fetter and Nordboe to lead 14-10 heading into the second quarter. Senior Toby Niederegger played with a ton of energy Friday night and attacked the Pioneers relentlessly before the break drawing four fouls from the Pioneer defense.

Niederegger scored four before the break as did senior Braden Eoff to help the Sugarbeeters maintain their lead and head to intermission with a 26-20 lead.

Niederegger continued to attack the middle of the Pioneer defense, scoring on a nice take down the lane with 2:12 left in the quarter to push the 'Beeter lead to nine at 37-28. Pula brought the ball down the court moments later and made a few nifty moves to get to the basket untouched for another easy basket. The Chinook offensive attack began to find all kinds of space in the Pioneer defense and got to the basket regularly. The 'Beeter defense has been outstanding all season and continued to be Thursday night.

Chinook closed out the third with a strong defensive effort that led to a rebound by Niederegger who then raced down the court and dished to a cutting Fetter for a 41-30 lead.

The 'Beeters had all the momentum heading into the fourth quarter of action and with the Pioneers on the ropes they stepped on the gas. Eoff made a nice entry pass into senior Flint Annis who pumped once and then scored on the low block to push the lead to thirteen, 43-30.

Senior Braden Eoff gets past his man during second half action Friday night in Chinook.

Chinook finished strong getting six more from Niederegger down the stretch and scoring 18 over the final eight minutes to cruise to a 59-38 win over the Pioneers.

Niederegger led all scorers on the night with 20 points. Eoff finished with nine points in the win while Fetter added eight for the Sugarbeeters.

Chinook was scheduled to play the Box Elder Bears on Saturday night but the contest was postponed due to Covid-19 issues with the Bears. The game has been rescheduled for Tuesday, February 1, Varsity only with the girls game set for 5:00 p.m. and the boys to follow.

With the win the 'Beeters extended their conference win streak to four, improving to 5-3 on the season and 6-5 overall. The District 9C is wide open with the top teams, Big Sandy and Box Elder, each with two losses. a strong finish could net the Sugarbeeters a high tournament seed in February at the District 9C Tournament.

 
 

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