The regular season is in the books and the teams are locked into their positions heading into the District 9C Tournament.

The Big Sandy Pioneer boys finished the season with a big win at home Friday night over the Turner Tornadoes, 70-60 and fell unexpectedly Saturday afternoon to the Chester/Joplin-Inverness Hawks 56-43.

The girls were defeated Friday by a score of 62-24 and then held a lead for much of the contest against the Hawks Saturday afternoon before having it slip away late in a 28-26 loss.

Friday at home against the Turner Tornadoes the Big Sandy Pioneers jumped out to a 15-9 lead on the strength of seven points from junior Ryan Roth, four more from junior Brock Proulx and a bucket each from 8th grader Crawford Terry and sophomore Kade Strutz.

The Pioneers continued to add to their lead in the second stanza outscoring Turner 16-6 in the frame and getting eight points from Strutz, including 4-5 from the charity stripe. Roth added six more in the stanza and the Pioneers opened up a 31-215 advantage by halftime.

The Tornadoes would heat up a bit offensively after the break, scoring 20 in the third quarter but the Pioneers tossed in 17 themselves, getting another 6 from Strutz and six more from Roth to maintain a 48-35 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.

Down the stretch the Pioneers way converted 7-9 from the free throw line and scored 22 points and holding off the Tornadoes for a 70-60 win.

Roth paced the Pioneer effort with 28 points while Strutz added 21 in the victory. Proulx finished with 15 for the Pioneers.

Saturday the team concluded the regular season in Chester. The boys got off to a good start, leading 17-7 after one quarter of action.

The Pioneers gave six points back in the second and saw their lead shrink to four by intermission, 27-23. The Hawks outscored the Pioneers 23-6 in the third quarter and finished the fourth with a 56-43 win over Big Sandy. Strutz led the Pioneers with 25 points in the contest.

The Pioneer girls continue to play hard and compete start to finish. Friday against Turner they finished strong, scoring 20 points in the second half of a 62-24 loss to the Tornadoes.

Senior Jaylyn Cline led the effort with nine points while junior Lainey Gregory connected twice from long range for six points.

Saturday in the season finale, the Pioneers and Hawks were engaged in a defensive battle from the opening tip.

Chester/J-I led 6-3 after eight minutes of action but the Pioneers responded with a strong second quarter effort to take a 13-8 lead into the halftime locker room. Junior

Amanda Cline knocked down a long three ball and scored six points in the quarter to help Big Sandy grab the lead.

Gregory and Jaylyn would each connect from beyond the arc in the third quarter for the Pioneers as they maintained a 21-13 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.

The Hawks were able to rally down the stretch, outscoring the Pioneer girls 15-5 to earn a 28-26 victory.

Amanda Cline and Gregory each finished the contest with eight points to lead the Pioneers.

The boys finished the regular season with an overall record of 10-8 while finishing 7-7 in conference play. The regular season effort was good enough to secure a No. 4 seed in the District 9C Tournament which gets underway for the boys this Thursday.

Big Sandy will begin tournament play against the No. 5 North Star Knights with tip off set for 12:30 a.m. Thursday afternoon.

A win and the Pioneers will advance to the semifinal round against the winner of No. 1 Chinook versus No. 8 Chester/J-I. A loss would have the Pioneers taking on the loser of the same contest. Friday morning at 8:00 a.m.

The other side of the boys bracket features No. 2 Fort Benton versus No. 7 Box Elder and No. 3 Hays/Lodge Pole versus No. 6 Turner.

On the girls side of the ledger, Big Sandy enters as the No. 8 seed after finishing the regular season with a 2-16 overall record, 0-14 in conference and will begin with a test against the top seeded Box Elder at 1:00 p.m. this afternoon.

No. 4 North Star will take on No. 5 Hays/Lodge Pole immediately following with the winners playing in the semifinal Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. The losers will meet Thursday morning at 8:00 a.m.

The other half of the girls bracket has the No. 3 Turner Tornadoes taking on the No. 6 Chinook Sugarbeeters and the No. 2 Fort Benton Longhorns squaring off against the No. 7 Chester/Joplin-Inverness Hawks.

The top three finishers at the district tournament will advance to the Northern C Divisional in Great Falls next week.

The Northern C will be played at the Four Seasons Arena and will get under way on February 20. The girls championship will take place on Friday, February 22 and the boys on Saturday, February 23.

Boys Basketball

Big Sandy 70 Turner 60

Turner 9 6 20 25 - 60

Big Sandy 15 16 17 22 - 70

Turner: Austin Welsh 2 2-5 5, Jack Harmon 1 0-2 3, Kurt Calvert 0 0-0 0, Charlie Calvert 0 0-0 0, Cody Welsh 12 1-2 25, Shane Kimmel 5 6-9 18, Shay Humphreys 0 0-0 0Spencer See 1 2-2 5, Tracer Heilig 1 1-2 3. Team Totals 22 12-22 60.

Big Sandy: Brock Proulx 7 1-2 15, Ryan Roth 9 9-13 28, Kody Strutz 0 2-4 2, Crawford Terry 2 0-0 4, Austin Haugen 0 0-0 0, Parker Proulx 0 0-0 0, Jeremiah Genereux 0 0-0 0, Kade Strutz 6 9-11 21. Team Totals 24 21-30 70.

Three Point Field Goals: Big Sandy 1 (Ryan Roth), Turner 4 (Shane Kimmel 2, Jack Harmon, Tracer Heilig); Team Fouls: Big Sandy 15, Turner 18; Fouled Out: None.

Chester/J-I 56 Big Sandy 43

Big Sandy 17 10 6 10 - 43

Chester/J-I 7 16 23 10 - 56

Big Sandy: Brock Proulx 6, Ryan Roth 8, Kody Strutz 0, Crawford Terry 2, Parker Proulx 0, Jeremiah Genereux 0, Bradon Cline 0, Kade Strutz 25. Team Totals N/A.

Chester/J-I: Lane Fisher 2, Andrew Woods 15, Kyle Hermon 1, Spencer Richter 13, Bryce Ghekeire 0 0-0 0, Evan Dalinden 3, Jackson Diemert 6, Jordan Bender 0 Trevin Grammar 0, Kealy Haaland 0, Jarrett Green 2, Tyler Wanken 14.

Three Point Field Goals: Big Sandy N/A, Chester/J-I N/A; Team Fouls: Big Sandy N/A, Chester/J-I N/A Fouled Out: N/A

Girls Basketball

Turner 62 Big Sandy 24

Turner 23 14 14 11 - 62

Big Sandy 0 4 13 7 - 24

Turner: Raegan Conlan 0 0-0 0, Sarah Billmayer 3 4-5 11, Dakota Krass 1 0-0 2, Rylee Conlan 3 0-0 7, Melanie Watkins 4 4-4 12, Brandy Calvert 0 0-0 0, Laci Maloney 1 0-0 2, Brooke Reed 4 0-0 8, Shyan Krass 8 0-0 16, Lacey Hickel 1 2-3 4. Team Totals 25 6-12 62.

Big Sandy: Laynee Ophus 1 0-0 2, Stacey Allderdice 0 0-0 0, Kylee Sternberg 0 0-0 0, Amiya Griffith 0 0-0 0, Grace Finke 0 0-0 0, Madison Terry 0 0-0 0, Lainey Gregory 2 0-2 6, Jaylyn Cline 2 3-5 9, Amanda Cline 3 0-0 7, Seanna Demontiny 0 0-0 0, Caydence Pleninger 0 0-0 0. Team Totals 8 3-7 24.

Three Point Field Goals: Turner 2 (Sarah Billmayer 1, Rylee Conlan 1), Big Sandy 6 (Lainey Gregory 2, , Jaylyn Cline 2, Amanda Cline 1); Team Fouls: Turner 10, Big Sandy 8; Fouled Out: None

Chester/J-I 26 Big Sandy 28

Big Sandy 3 10 8 5 - 26

Chester/J-I 6 2 5 15 - 28

Eighth grader Crawford Terry has played big minutes for the Pioneers this season.

Big Sandy: Laynee Ophus 1 3-6 5, Stacey Allderdice 0 0-0 0, Kylee Sternberg 0 0-0 0, Amiya Griffith 0 0-0 0, Grace Finke 0 0-0 0, Madison Terry 0 0-0 0, Lainey Gregory 3 0-0 8, Jaylyn Cline 2 0-0 5, Amanda Cline 1 5-10 8, Seanna Demontiny 0 0-0 0, Caydence Pleninger 0 0-0 0. Team Totals 7 8-16 26.

Chester/J-I: Averie Mattson 0 3-4 3, Tatum Hull 0 0-0 0, Kyla Mansfield 0 0-0 0, Molly Nelson 0 0-0 0, Haddie Woods 0 0-2 0, Abby Fraser 3 2-7 8, Peyton Hawks 3 5-6 11, Emma Wickman 3 0-0 6, Aaliyah Standiford 0 0-0 0. Team Totals 9 10-19 28.

Three Point Field Goals: Big Sandy 4 (Lainey Gregory 2, Jaylyn Cline 1, Amanda Cline 1), Chester/J-I 0; Team Fouls: Big Sandy 16, Chester/J-I 15 Fouled Out: None