Manhattan Christian Eagles celebration after winning MHSA 2025 Western C Divisional Title is muted with concerns for injured teammate Rance Hamilton

Lady Wolverines claim Girls Divisional Championship while Manhattan Christian Lady Eagles win two to force a Challenge Game against Shields Valley on Monday at Park High.

The 2025 MHSA Western C Divisional Champions Manhattan Christian Eagles.

By: Jeff Schlapp

On Saturday at the Butte Civic Center in Butte, the Manhattan Christian Eagles won their seventh consecutive Western C Divisional Title but lost a leader in Rance Hamilton who crashed to the court in the opening minutes of the first quarter. Hamilton was in obvious pain and had to be carried off.

At the time the number three ranked Eagles (20-2) and number one seed in the tournament led the Lincoln Lynx (20-4) 6-2 before Teegan Riddle (10 points, eight rebounds, and an assist) nailed a three-pointer from the wing to draw the Lynx with one 6-5.

Christian Triemstra, who had another outstanding game (26 points, five rebounds, three assists, one block, and three steals) dropped the first of his four treys on the night but the Lynx Andrew Brown hit a three from the corner and Lincoln pulled within 9-8.

The game was being played at a high-energy level and the Eagles led 15-13 when the Lynx missed a three-point attempt; Triemstra grabbed the rebound took three dribbles while surveying the court and fired a three-quarter of the court pass to Shaphan Hubner who made the layup as the horn ending the first quarter went off.

In the second quarter, Isaac Hoekema (8 points, 10 rebounds, for blocks) blocked a shot attempt by Dylan Jakushak (3 points) and Triemstra picked up the ball and sped down the court where he slammed the ball home with a dunk that was worthy of a poster (in his typical way after the game Triemstra said he knew he was going to dunk the ball but he didn’t glorify the dunk - I will though, it was sensational).

The Eagle crowd barely had a moment to sit down when the Eagle’s pressure defense caused a turnover and Hoekema scored on a layin. When Andrew Kim (6 points, four blocks, and two steals) cleaned the glass with an offensive rebound and a put-back the Eagles had extended their lead to ten, 23-13. The teams were playing at breakneck speed and even though Lincoln was down by ten they were giving the Eagles a game.

At the half, the Eagles led 29-20 when Triemstra glided down the lane and dropped a left-handed layup on the Lynx while Jakushak hit a long-range bomb to keep Lincoln within striking distance.