For the first time since 2015-2016, the Box Elder boys’ basketball team has claimed a Montana high school Class ‘C’ championship, beating Manhattan Christian on Saturday night, (68-64). The Bears completed a perfect (26-0) season and won their fourth title in program history in the process.
The Bears had the lead by two points with under 30 seconds left to play in regulation. Junior wing Matthias Blackbird then took a pass and drove the baseline for the game-sealing layup. He told New Media Broadcasters Sports what he was thinking about in going for that bucket to make the championship a reality.
“I didn’t really feeling anything. I just said, ‘Go to the basket’ and see if I could get a bucket,” Blackbird said. “If I got fouled, I (would get) fouled. If I miss it, I miss it, but it went down, so we got the win.”
“I just feel all around great,” Blackbird continued.
A number of these Bears were cubs growing up idolizing the basketball programs of the past. Junior point guard Tracen Jilot summed up what the team’s cohesiveness was like throughout this run and how it affected everyone in the Box Elder community.
“It means a lot, especially to the community,” Jilot said. “Basketball is kind of everything where we’re from.”
“To grow up and play (basketball), especially with my guys and my teammates, we’ve just been playing for so long,” Jilot continued. “Our chemistry is just unmatched, in my opinion.”
Box Elder coach Jeremy MacDonald said that this run to perfection and a title puts Box Elder in a class of its own in Montana high school basketball history and without being prompted stated the future is now.
“These boys will be mentioned with one of the great Box Elder teams (and) maybe one of the great Class ‘C’ teams,” MacDonald said. “The cool thing about it is that they’re all juniors, six of them.”
“Those guys will be coming back,” MacDonald continued. “We’ve never won back-to-back, so these boys have a chance to do that, but we’re going to enjoy this (championship).”
The Bear boys have won state championships in the past with unblemished records, but like coach MacDonald said, the team will have a chance to do something that hasn’t been done for their program; run it back.
Jilot said the team should be even more motivated to go back-to-back.
“I think we’re even hungrier now,” Jilot said. “There’s a gap between the banners , so we want to finish that gap (and) just get it back-to-back.”
“We can’t overlook anyone,” Jilot continued. “We have to keep working hard, though.”
The Bears will lose one senior to graduation and have everyone else returning, which is not limited to Jilot, Blackbird, and Tuarie Stiffarm-Rosette, a combined 59 points-per-game for a team that averaged more than 85 a game coming into postseason play.
