We've Got The County Covered
The Chinook Sugarbeeter volleyball team got their season started Friday night with a non-conference home match against the Fort Benton Longhorns.
The Longhorns are a strong team out of the District 7C, who many consider to be a contender for the State C in Bozeman come November. The Sugarbeeters are a young team looking to familiarize themselves with plenty of new faces on the court at the varsity level.
The 'Beeters came out strong to start the match. In a back and forth opening set the 'Beeter gained control early and held on for a 25-21 set win.
The Longhorns are very well tested and bounced back to win set number two 25-17. With the match even at 1-1 the 'Beeters were looking to regain some momentum, but the Longhorns kept up their attack taking set number three, 25-18 to go up 2-1
The Longhorns attack proved to be to much down the stretch as Fort Benton closed out the match with a 25-15 set win to take the match 3-1.
The 'Beeters were led offensively by junior Delaney Kellam and junior Hailey Bell with five kills each. Junior Ginger Hauer set up the hitters with 13 assists.
The 'Beeters were at the Malta Invitational Saturday looking for a solid performance on the court in their first tournament of the season.
Chinook was in a pool that included North Country, Poplar, Rocky Boy and Tri-City.
The 'Beeters fell to the Poplar Indians in pool play but bested the Rocky Boy Morning Stars and Tri-City Titans and defeated North Country 25-17 to finish pool play 3-1 and in a three way tie atop the group. Based on points the Chinook girls earned the top seed in the tournament.
Chinook beat the Malta M-ettes 25-14, 22-14 47-39 total points to advance. The 'Beeters the took down Circle 24-25, 23-20 to win on total points 47-45 and advance to the championship match against the Plentywood Wildcats.
In the final the 'Beeters played hard and the two teams fought for every point but it was the Wildcats that won set one 25-24 and closed things out with a 25-21 set two win the claim the title.
The sugarbeeters will host the Big Sandy Pioneers in their District 6C-East season opener on Thursday and the host the Chinook Invitational on Friday and Saturday. The oldest Invitational in the state will feature many of the norths top Class B and Class C teams.
Harlem Opens Season at Malta Invitational
The Harlem Wildcats kicked off the 2019 volleyball season at the Malta Invitational Saturday and turned in an effort that pleased Head Coach Kim Faulkinberry.
The Wildcats finished the day 1-3 but Faulkinberry was happy with her teams effort and what she saw on the court, "Overall a good weekend. I was pleased with how we started the season. I saw some great things and I saw some things we need to work on."
The Wildcats lost to Circle 25-19, defeated the Malta M-ettes 25-16 and fell to Plentywood 25-18 in pool play.
In the single elimination tournament Harlem was defeated by Tri-Cities 25-21, 25-15 50-36.
Thunderbirds in Sunburst at NTCHS Invitational
The Hays Lodge Pole Thunderbirds proved they will be a more competitive team this fall after a good showing in Sunburst this past weekend.
The Thunderbirds defeated Sunburst 25-17, 25-18 but fell to Fort Benton, Valier and Dutton/Brady in other action Saturday.