Seeley Lake Elementary (SLE) Eagles A Team took first place in the SLE Boys Tournament Dec. 12 after defeating the Charlo Vikings by two points. Pictured (L-R): Kayden Kimmel, Hunter Carpenter, Malachi Nicholas, Blake Lindemer, Dakota Wood, Avery Smith, Owen Mercado and Beau Sloan. See page 13.
The Seeley Lake Elementary B Team. Pictured front (L-R): Kaden Thornsberry, Ari Nicholas, Wyatt Stout, Sean Mercado, Aaron Jungers, Benjamin Haley, Maddux Burwick and Tyren Stidham. Back (L-R): Head Coach Joesy Exstrom, Fisher Carpenter, Steeler Hansen, Cullen Bertsch, Sawyer Shelmerdine, Chase Haines, Ty Castillon, Owen Hoag, Johnnie Stout and Assistant Coach Jennifer Bosley.
Eagles eighth-grader Avery Smith led the Eagles with 15 of their 34 points in the championship game against Charlo.
Eagles eighth-grader Dakota Wood shoots for the final two points of the game, breaking the tie and winning it for the Eagles.
SEELEY LAKE - The Seeley Lake Elementary (SLE) Eagles hosted their annual tournament Dec. 12. Drummond, Charlo, Philipsburg, Lincoln and SLE participated in the B Tournament for fifth and sixth-graders and all of the teams minus Lincoln also brought their seventh and eighth-graders for the A tournament.
Charlo went undefeated in the B Tournament claiming the championship title. SLE was able to bring the Charlo Vikings down by two points in the championship game winning the A Tournament.
Seeley Lake B Tournament
The Seeley Lake B Tournament was a round robin with no championship game. Charlo B team went undefeated for the tournament winning all of their games. Philipsburg took second in the tournament and Drummond took third overall. The Eagles were not able to pull out a win for the tournament with scores 10-16 against Drummond; 6-20 against Philipsburg; 16-19 against Lincoln and 14-24 against Charlo.
SLE B Team Head Coach Joesy Exstrom said the team has improved defensively this season. He pointed out that they only lost to Lincoln by three points in the tournament and were only down by four at the half against Charlo in the final game.
"Some of the teams we lost by 20 points [in the beginning of the season] but when we played them again we still lost but maybe only by six [points]," said Exstrom.
Assistant coach Jennifer Bosley agreed that defense has been the team's biggest improvement. While the offense just didn't have the time to gel like she would have liked, she said the players show a lot of promise and have been working hard on the fundamentals.
"We had 15 [fifth and sixth grade] kids. They had a lot of practice and playing time and I hope they all will be out next year," said Bosley.
Seeley Lake A Tournament
The Eagles won their first two games against Drummond and Philipsburg 26-18 and 40-15. They took their first loss of the season to Charlo losing by 10 points 33-43. Despite the loss they were given one more chance at the Vikings in the championship game. Drummond took third place in the tournament with a 37-29 win over Philipsburg.
In the championship game Eagle eighth-grader Avery Smith was quick to put four points on the board for SLE. Charlo responded with six points. After several missed shots on both sides, Charlo found their groove, hitting two 3-pointers in a row taking the largest lead of the game, 5-13. The Eagles rallied catching up to within one point and then dropping back to a 16-22 score at the half.
SLE Head Coach Brett Haines told the team at the half, "They are shooting well, but we are still in the game. We can beat them. They always believed."
Within the first five minutes of the final half, the Eagles closed the gap to one point. After the gap was closed one team was never ahead by more than three points.
With less than 30 seconds in the game, Eagle Dakota Wood sunk a layup for two points putting the Eagles ahead by one point, 32-31. Charlo tied it up with a free throw and the Eagles were able to get the ball back. With five seconds on the clock, Wood again put in a layup for the win, 34-32.
Smith led the scoring for the Eagles putting up 15 points. Others that scored: Owen Mercado, 7; Wood, 6; Blake Lindemer, 3 and Beau Sloan, 3.
"The kids stepped it up and they played hard," said SLE Head Coach Brett Haines. "We zoned, they are a lot more physical than we are and we packed it in. They hit threes early and went up on us but we never gave up."
When asked about the difference between the first game against Charlo and the second Haines said that the Eagles made plays when they needed to. "Even though Charlo made some big shots in the beginning and led in the first half, we held them to less points in the second half and made more. We made a couple of critical defense and offensive plays when we needed them most. I'm so excited for these kids to get the win."
"Big surprise that we would go undefeated in the regular season," said Haines about the season. "We had some kids grow this year, we got better working on their game. It was a much better team than I thought we would be."
The A Team will travel to Charlo for a final tournament Friday and Saturday, Dec. 18-19.
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