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

The Chinook Sugarbeeter girls basketball team continued to roll through the competition this past weekend as they added two more lopsided wins to improve to 4-0. Friday the 'Beeters were in Big Sandy to take on the Pioneers in their District 9C opener. Chinook used a dominate second quarter to blow the game open and went on to secure a 60-28 win. Saturday the 'Beeters were back in the friendly confines of the Floyd Bowen Gymnasium to take on the Box Elder Bears in their home opener. Chinook sent a statement to the rest of the District 9C with a dominate 59-42 win over the Bears.

Friday in Big Sandy the contest got off to a bit of a slow start before the 'Beeters got their offense rolling. Sophomore Alexus Seymour got the 'Beeters on the board first with an offensive rebound and score at the 7:03 mark for a 2-0 lead. Big Sandy took a 6-4 lead at the halfway mark of the first quarter in a start where neither team seemed to have any rhythm. The 'Beeters have a potent offense and it was just a matter of time before they would get things rolling. After scoring just four points in the games first six minutes they did just that.

Following a timeout with Big Sandy holding a 6-5 lead and 1:48 left in the opening quarter the 'Beeters got things going. Senior Torin Cecrle made a nice steal and got the ball to senior Bree Swanson for an easy layup and a 7-6 lead. Sophomore Hannah Schoen followed with an offensive rebound and score and junior Hallie Neibauer dropped in a long three for a 12-6 advantage late in the quarter.

Chinook started the second quarter with all the momentum and kept their foot squarely on the gas pedal. Swanson scored underneath off a pass from Schoen and then followed with a left elbow three for a 17-9 lead. Neibauer scored off the euro step to finish a fast break adding to the 'Beeter momentum. Swanson found Neibauer on the inbound from half court for a corner three with 5:09 left in the half to push the lead to 22-9.

Defensively Cecrle stepped in and took a charge while also coming up with some steals and deflections that gave the ball back to the offense. Neibauer dropped in a free throw and then added a one handed flip to push the lead to 25-9. Senior Anna Terry drew a charge on the other end and the 'Beeters got baskets from Seymour, Swanson and Schoen to close out the first half and take a 31-11 lead into halftime. Chinook outscored the Pioneers 19-2 in the quarter.

Chinook was in complete control to start the third quarter and weren't about to give anything back to the Pioneers. The 'Beeters outscored the Pioneers 15-7 in the third quarter and coasted to a 60-28 win over the Pioneers. Neibauer led the way for the 'Beeters with 20 points on 7-17 shooting from the field while also collecting three steals. Schoen scored 12 and Seymour and Swanson each added 11.

Saturday in their home opener with the Box Elder Bears the 'Beeters were all business as they were prepared to make a statement against one of the premier programs in the Northern C. Neibauer got the 'Beeters on the board first with a free throw and then stepped in front of the Bears pass and drove in for an easy layup and a 3-0 lead. Moments later Seymour found Terry on the baseline for a short jumper and a quick 5-0 'Beeter lead. The Bears tried to slow the 'Beeter attack with a timeout but Chinook kept applying the pressure on both sides of the court. Berreth later hit a cutting Seymour for a layup to push their advantage to 7-2.

Swanson converted another steal into an easy layup and added another easy bucket down low moments later as the lead swelled to 13-2 with just over three minutes left in the first quarter. Chinook closed out the opening stanza with four free throws from Neibauer, one from Schoen and a short jumper in the paint from Terry to take a 20-4 lead over the Bears after eight minutes of action.

The 'Beeters kept up the attack in the second quarter. Neibauer nailed a long three ball and Swanson connected on a long two pointer for a 26-6 advantage. Berreth picked the pocket of the Bears guard and coasted in for another bucket and then found Swanson in the corner for a three-point bomb opening up a 31-8 lead for the 'Beeters with 4:15 left in the half. Box Elder scored six straight leading to a 'Beeter timeout with 2:02 remaining in the half to make the score 31-14. Box Elder added a free throw and another bucket inside to extend their run to 9-0 with time running down in the half. Chinook would take a 31-17 lead into the halftime locker room.

Junior Hallie Neibauer knocks down a three pointer in the 'Beeters 59-42 win over the Box Elder Bears. Neibauer finished with 16 points in the 'Beeters home opener.

Swanson scored down low off a nice pass from Neibauer to give Chinook a 34-17 lead early in the third quarter. Neibauer followed with a pair from the charity strip to push the lead to nineteen, 36-17. Terry stood her ground on the other end, picking up a charge as the 'Beeters maintained control of the contest on both ends of the court.

Chinook maintained their lead after the break and cruised to a 59-42 win to start the season 4-0. Swanson led the 'Beeter attack with 19 points on 9-21 shooting. Neibauer added 16 points in the win. Terry and Seymour each added eight.

Head Coach Mike Jones summed up his teams start by saying, "Think we had a great start to the season. Our girls are really playing well together and our defense has gotten better. We are definitely getting better each practice. We have one more game before break where we can really get into fine tuning some stuff at practice."