Sugarbeeter Girls Ready to take on the District 1B

The Chinook Sugarbeeter girls' basketball team had plenty of success through the years in the District 9C but those days are gone. This season the 'Beeters will join Choteau, Cut Bank, Conrad, Fairfield, Rocky Boy and Shelby in the District 1B. This past Friday the Sugarbeeters were in Choteau to take on the Bulldogs in the season and conference opener for both teams.

The conference may have changed but the result was still the same for the 'Beeter girls, another dominant performance. Chinook jumped out to a 17-2 lead by the end of the first quarter, getting five points from junior Alexus Seymour, four more from senior Hallie Neibauer and a triple off the hands of junior Addison Olsen.

As good as the 'Beeters were in the opening stanza, they were even better in the second. Seven players found the scoring column with four players scoring four, leading to a 40-7 halftime lead for the 'Beeters. Coming out of the break Chinook kept their foot on the gas, opening up a 55-11 lead heading into the fourth quarter of action.

Chinook closed out the contest with nine points in the fourth to secure a 64-22 season opening win over the Bulldogs. All nine players dressed, contributed in the win with eight scoring points. Neibauer led the way with 13 while Seymour finished with 12. Junior Gracie Skoyen finished with 10, junior Neva Lowe added seven for the 'Beeters in the win.

This year the 'Beeter girls are under the direction of Head Coach Mike Seymour who spent the previous two seasons as the girls' assistant coach. This year's roster includes seniors Hallie Neibauer and Jenna Liddle, juniors Alexus Seymour, Addison Olsen, Gracie Skoyen, Hannah Schoen and Jeni Mord. Sophomores out this season are Faylyn Cecrle, Neva Lowe, Brooke Fetter, Ashlyn Hofeldt and Kirby Hofeldt. Freshman getting their first taste of high school ball are Lori Mord, Sidney Liddle, Kamry Gustitis and Amyerah Kelly.

The 'Beeters have good leadership at the top, "My returning starters are Hallie, Alexus and Hannah. Hallie is a two-time All-State recipient and has signed to play with Montana Tech. Those accomplishments kind of speak for themselves. She was our leading scorer and was our leading rebounder. Alexus has really worked on a lot of different aspects of her game. She has worked hard at penetrating and being a facilitator. Alexus and Hallie tied for the three-point season record and Alexus also tied the single game three-point mark."

Seymour went on to say, "Hannah is a force in the paint and can hold her own against taller girls, Hannah has really improved her mid-range game which will help open up driving lanes. Hannah is a scrapper and will never give up on a loose ball and will outwork whoever she guards. Jenna wasn't a starter last year but is a blue-collar player who has a knack to find the loose balls and rebounds and generate second chance points. She also has really worked on her shooting and defense."

One thing everyone says is needed to win games is defense and that's what Seymour wants to focus on first, "Defensively we are going to try and take the opponent out of their comfort zone and really disrupt their offense. We would like our defense to start our offense in transition. We will use multiple defensive schemes to control the other team, take them out of their comfort zone and disrupt their timing offensively. We are coming at people, and we want to force them into turnovers and quick possessions. Our offense will be up-tempo and take advantage of the shot clock and we will be disciplined and make the most of each possession."

Depth is built from the ground up, "In the last two seasons our junior varsity team has gone undefeated," said Seymour. "We are looking at playing nine players on the varsity level and have a couple junior varsity players that we hope can contribute as the season moves along." Seymour added, "I am very impressed with our team's athleticism and quickness and even more impressed with the girl's attitude and the chemistry they have developed the last couple weeks."

One thing fans can count on when watching the 'Beeter girls this winter is that they will always play hard for thirty-two minutes. "We are looking to be competitive every night and to improve week to week and be playing our best basketball in February and March. The coaching staff is excited to get the season underway in Choteau and see a different color of jersey rather than playing against each other and get the first game jitters out of the way. It's a conference game for both of us. That's a bit odd but that's the way the schedule was made."

The Sugarbeeters will be back on the court this Friday morning at the Coyote Classic in Shelby when they will take on Eureka at 10:30 am. Saturday the girls will play the Malta Mustangs at 3:00 pm.