We've Got The County Covered
We've Got The County Covered
Chinook junior Hallie Neibauer put the team on her back this past weekend and led the 'Beeters to a pair of huge conference wins to close out the season. Neibauer scored 30 of the teams 44 points Friday night against North Star and 28 of Chinooks 45 points in a win over Fort Benton on Saturday.
Chinook senior Bree Swanson gets to the basket Friday night.
Hays/Lodge Pole sophomore Gabriel Walker has played very well in the post for the Thunderbirds this season.
The regular season came to a close for our local girls basketball teams this past weekend and some edge of your seat games highlighted the action. The 'Beeters finished undefeated, a perfect 14-0 in District 9C play and 18-0 overall but it came with tense conclusions that had fans glued to the action. Friday in the 'Beeters home finale they edged the North Star Knights 44-43, holding the ball out of bounds as time wound down. Friday in Fort Benton the 'Beeters trailed the entire first half but a strong finish led to a 43-35 win over the Longhorns.
The Hays/Lodge Pole Thunderbirds had just one game on the docket, a trip to Box Elder Saturday evening to take on the Bears. The Thunderbirds turned in a complete game effort in defeating the Bears 61-53.
The Turner Tornadoes dropped a pair of weekend contests falling at home to Big Sandy Friday night 52-42 and in Gildford Saturday 53-32 to the North Star Knights. The Harlem Lady Cats also were dealt a pair of losses, the first coming in Box Elder last Tuesday 64-31 and in Glasgow Saturday afternoon 57-15.
Friday night the 'Beeters celebrated their seniors and then took the floor against the team closest to them in the standings, the North Star Knights. Chinook won the first meeting in Gildford, 57-35, but Friday night presented a completely different game.
North Star didn't back down from the 'Beeters to start the contest and managed to handle the 'Beeter's vaunted defense in taking a 10-8 lead at the end of quarter one. The Sugarbeeters bounced back a bit in the second. Senior Torin Cecrle drained a long three but Chinook was only able to trim a single point off the North Star lead and trailed 20-19 at the break.
Junior Hallie Neibauer took over the 'Beeter attack in the second half scoring eleven of the team's twelve third quarter points. Neibauer's heroics led to the 'Beeters to a 41-36 lead late as time wound down. North Star connected on back to back three pointers late. Neibauer added a triple of her own in between to put Chinook up 44-40. When the second North Star three cleared the net with time expiring, sophomore Alexus Seymour held the ball out of bounds letting the last two ticks fall off the clock. Neibauer scored 22 in the second half and 30 in the game willing the 'Beeters to victory.
Saturday in Fort Benton was a very similar game with the Longhorns controlling the tempo and the scoreboard for much of the contest. Neibauer again led the way, scoring 14 first half points keeping Chinook close in a game they trailed 25-20 at the break.
Chinook rallied in the third quarter outscoring the Longhorns 12-2 to take a 32-27 lead into the fourth quarter. Fort Benton came alive to start the home stretch, chipping away at the 'Beeter lead, but Neibauer put an end to any Fort Benton comeback hopes, scoring seven points in the quarter to help Chinook secure a season ending 43-35 win and cap an undefeated regular season. Neibauer again led all scorers with 28 in the 'Beeter win.
The Thunderbirds were looking to finish the regular season on a high note as they took the court for their season finale Saturday afternoon in Box Elder. The game was tightly contested early on with both teams matching each other on both ends of the court.
Sophomore Gabriel Walker controlled the paint early on scoring eight first quarter points to lift the Thunderbirds to a 14 -12 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Bears turned the game around in the second quarter outscoring the Thunderbirds 19-10 to take a 31-24 halftime lead.
Hays/Lodge regrouped at halftime and came out shooting. Junior Alliya Pretty Paint torched the nets for 14 third quarter points to power a Thunderbird comeback. Junior Imagin Fox added a triple and by the time the quarter ended Hays/Lodge Pole had taken a 50-45 lead.
The Thunderbirds finished strong and rode the momentum to a 61-53 win over the Bears. Pretty Paint finished with 18 points in the win while Walker added 10.
