The Box Elder Bears lost against the Chester-Joplin-Inverness Hawks back in January, and unfortunately they wound up with the same result on Saturday. Box Elder took a serious blow against the Hawks, falling 58-31. While losing is never fun, Box Elder can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Montana basketball rankings (they are ranked 91st, while the Hawks are ranked 16th).
Box Elder's loss came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Ariel Gopher, who scored 14 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Martay Stiffarm-rosette, who scored five points along with three steals.
Box Elder has been struggling recently as they've lost three of their last four matches, which put a noticeable dent in their 6-10 record this season. As for Chester-Joplin-Inverness, the win (which was their ninth in a row) raised their record to 14-1.
Box Elder and the Coyotes will face off at 6:00 p.m. on February 9th without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. Dodson is out to stop a three-game streak of losses at home. Chester-Joplin-Inverness will take on the Knights at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. North Star is coming into the matchup on a five-game losing streak.
