MANHATTAN BELGRADE THREE FORKS
MANHATTAN CHRISTIAN Outsmart. Outplay. Outscore.
Belgrade Panthers
• 6-7 ... Boys Basketball
• 8-9 ... Girls Basketball
• 10-11 ... Boys Wrestling
• 12-13 ... Girls Wrestling
• 14-15 ... Swimming
Manhattan Tigers
• 16-17 ... Boys Basketball
• 18-19 ... Girls Basketball
• 20-21 ... Wrestling
Manhattan
• 22 ... Boys Basketball
• 23 ... Girls Basketball
Three
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WEEKLY ON THURSDAYS.
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MANHATTAN
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THREE FORKS
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THREE FORKS
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• Manhattan Bank in Three Forks
veteran squad and head coach Luke Powers departed following last year’s 5-16 campaign. But new Belgrade head coach Jordan Matthews has high expectations for the program.
The Panthers had a huge turnout for try-outs and the coaching staff keep 39 players after nearly two-dozen were cut. The freshman class comprised much of the increase, but Matthews noted there were several newcomers among upperclassmen.
“We had an amazing amount of kids come out this year,” he
said. “We had a lot of younger kids, freshmen coming in, that was the majority of where cuts happened. I’ve got kids that haven’t played basketball since fifth grade that came out that are older kids that I think can help us.”
Another large and talented freshman class is expected in 2025-26 as well, Matthews noted.
“Sounds like it’s going to be kind of the same thing next year with a lot of kids coming next year too,” he said. “We’re in a
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really good spot on the boys side.”
Belgrade will try to rebuild after losing eight seniors, including Rylan McCollim, Braden Clyde and Daniel Marinko. The trio earned all-conference honors in the Eastern AA a year ago and were the team’s top three scorers.
Returners who saw varsity and/or JV action last year include seniors Grady Andrews, Nick Bray, Easton Erickson, Korbin Freese, Jacob Morales and Ryder Tolley. Erickson missed several games due to injury, but was a starter at times when in the lineup.
“Easton Erickson and Nick Bray are kind of our one-two guys,” said Matthews. “They’ve been through the whole program since their freshman year as far as seniors go, and they’re the guys, they’re it.”
Andrews was the team’s backup point guard as a junior, and has quality varsity experience along
with Erickson.
“The junior class and below, they’re coming,” said Matthews. “We’ve got a phenomenal freshman class, we got some good sophomores and then our junior class is going to be real good too.
The next couple years, I’m in a good spot. We’re going to be able to compete and it’s going to change completely because we have some really good talent coming down through the pipeline.”
Two newcomers who are expected to provide Belgrade with a much-needed presence in the post are seniors Drew Anderson and Garrett O’Tool. The duo are 6-8 and 6-5, respectively, but haven’t played since middle school.
Matthews is excited about the potential of those two.
“Garrett’s athletic. We’re going to have to work with him on some stuff, but what I need him to do
is set some screens, get some rebounds for us,” he said. “Same thing with Drew. They’re big bodies and our program has been kind of small in recent years, so it’s just kind of nice to have some size.”
Overall, there are 17 athletes on the varsity/JV roster and 22 underclassmen.
“I’m pretty excited about these guys, they play hard, they get after it. I think with the way that we’re going to play, the style that we’re going to play, I don’t know if we’re losing as much as we think; I’m pretty optimistic,” said Matthews.
“I believe in these kids. I think we got a real chance to make those games to get to state. I really do. The talent was definitely better last year on paper, but these kids are hungry. They’ve shown me a lot … they’re coming.”
Belgrade tips off the season Dec. 12 hosting Butte High.
ntering his second season as head coach of Belgrade, Rob Nugent feels his returning players are much more comfortable with his offensive and defensive schemes.
But program numbers are down following an 0-20 campaign a year ago. Nugent was expecting a decrease as Belgrade will field just varsity and froshmore teams this season.
“Our freshman numbers, we knew just watching eighth grade basketball last year with the numbers that they had that our numbers on the freshman level were going to be down. So
that was automatically putting us down a team,” Nugent explained. “Because with freshmen you have to be freshmen, so if you don’t have eight or nine freshmen then you don’t have a freshman team. Even if you had 50 kids, you can’t have a freshman team because you don’t have eight or nine freshmen.”
In addition, several players who competed last year have opted not to return.
“There were kids that we knew that they probably wouldn’t come back and then there were about four that I thought would come continued on next page
back that didn’t,” said Nugent.
The varsity lost five members of last year’s team to graduation, but several key returners are back. Among that group is senior point guard Isabelle Blossom, who earned honorable mention allconference honors in the Eastern AA after averaging a team-best 5.9 points and 1.6 assists per game.
Other returners include seniors Ava Lund, Sarah Reichert, Madi Simon and Abby Weber; junior Rylee Feight; and sophomores Brooklyn Blossom and Arleigh Hone.
The Panthers will lack height with Simon and Feight measuring in as the team’s tallest players and they’re both under 5-feet, 10-inches.
“It poses a challenge,” Nugent acknowledged of the team’s deficiency. “You always have to play team defense. It’s going to
require a greater level of team defense in the post. And obviously, depending on the player we’re guarding and her skillset, we’ll have to make some scouting report adjustments as well.”
The biggest question mark heading into the season is whether the team can generate a consistent offensive attack. The Panthers were held to 30 points or less nine times last year.
“We’ve got kids that are capable of scoring,” said Nugent. “Isabelle, I expect a big year out of Izzy. She’s had a great summer.
“Madi had a pretty good summer down the stretch in the end and Abby’s really come on. Sarah Reichert is always capable of putting up a number of points. She can shoot the ball really well.”
It’s been a much smoother preseason camp for returning players, Nugent said, with having a
year under their belt in his system.
“They’ve been great, the energy’s been great in the gym, the attitude’s been great, the coachability’s been terrific,” he said. “The execution for the first three days, it’s been pretty good. It’s been a lot of fun in the gym.”
Belgrade tips off the season Dec. 12 hosting Butte High in a non-conference game.
“They’re light years ahead of where we were a year ago, and that makes sense. It isn’t anything special about me, they understand what we’re doing. They had a year of expectations and what we do offensively and what we do defensively,” said Nugent. “Last year was kind of starting from scratch. This year we’re not starting from where we left off, but we’re closer to where we left off last year than where we are from starting from scratch.”
Belgrade’s wrestling team won’t enjoy the depth that other Class AA programs will have this winter. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t poised for success.
The Panthers return most of their roster from a year ago — about 25 grapplers are participating in preseason practices — and a lot of talent is back, including two athletes who placed second at state and another who was third. Thus, head coach Bryce Weatherston likes the potential of the team heading into the 2024-25
campaign.
“I think it’s very realistic to put six, seven kids on the podium and have those of those compete for state titles,” he said. “That’s our objective as a team and we try to always look at it as for all of the individuals that that first place is a goal for every single one of those individuals. If you fall short, it’s the best next thing whether its third place or falling short of that, fifth place.”
Belgrade was 11-7 in duals last year and placed sixth at
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state with 102 points. Senior Nolan Brown and junior Cody Westlake are among the returners after finishing as the runner up at 113 and 103, respectively.
It was second straight year that Brown finished as the runner up (he was also second at 113 pounds in 2023) and he boasted a 23-2 record. Westlake is a two-time state placer too after finishing third at 103 as a freshman. He had a 19-3 record last year.
Ben Rodgers is also a two-time returning state placer. The senior was 16-4 a year ago and has taken third at 205 in each of the past two years.
Other key returners include junior Jacob Hahner and sophomores Brody Dooley and Carson Worthen. The trio competed at state a year ago and each won at least one match during the two-day event.
Weatherston noted that Mason Watson is also back after an injury that cut his junior season short.
“Last year he got injured towards the end of the year,” Weatherston said. “I’m absolutely confident he would have qualified for the state tournament last year.”
Juniors Michael Spears and Logan Underwood, and sophomore Conrad Zuelke, are additional returners that Weatherston feels will “step up” this season.
“We expect every one of those kids that didn’t break the lineup last year or fell shy of qualifying for the state tournament, we’ve got high expectations for them and they’re willing to work,” Weatherston said.
Belgrade lost just two wrestlers to graduation, including twotime state champion Mason Gutenberger. He was 22-4 last
year and won titles at 120 and 126 as a sophomore and a junior, respectively, and finished as the state runner up at 113 and 126 as a freshman and a senior.
The Panthers boast a lot of depth in the middle weights (150165) but lack overall team depth. Thus, they’ll likely be out of range to bring home a team trophy from the divisional and state tournaments.
“What we lack in quantity we make up quality,” said Weatherston. “The one good thing from a coaching aspect is there’s not as much training wheels in the beginning. It’s a little more developed and so that allows us to pick up the pace a little bit more and allows us to kind of pick up where we left off last year.”
Belgrade hosts Missoula Big Sky and Missoula Hellgate on Dec. 7 to begin the season.
With girls wrestling entering its fifth year in Montana, Belgrade will field its largest team to date with a lot of help from underclassmen.
The Belgrade School Board approved eighth grade inclusion for wrestling in the fall and there are more than a dozen grapplers participating on this year’s team.
newer girls, but some really high quality girls that pay attention to detail really well. They’re super tough, very athletic, and they’re excited about it.”
“We had a boost of interest this year,” Panthers head coach Derry McLane said. “The girls program, I’m looking at 15 to 18 total on that and quite a few
Leading the way for Belgrade is two-time state champion KyLee Lindsley. The senior is a three-time state placer after finishing as the runner up at 170 as a freshman.
Already the program’s firstever two-time state champion — Lindsley went 41-0 last year en route to winning the 165-pound
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title — she is seeking to become the program’s first four-time state placer in addition to three-time champion.
“She’s been working really hard through the offseason and she’s actually showing huge improvements going into this year already,” said McLane. “In addition to that, she’s really stepped it up into a leadership role where she’s been really pushing and helping out the newer girls.”
Overall, there are six returners for the team, however a couple will not be able to compete due to injuries. Sophomore Violet Linn will miss the season due to a knee injury suffered in soccer and junior Nikole Richards is not recovered yet from an injury.
“Nikole Richards is back as well, but she had surgery in the offseason and won’t be able to cleared to wrestle this season,” said
McLane. “So she will also be in the (managerial) role.”
In addition, Belgrade will compete without sophomore Estella Urrutia due to an injury to start the season. McLane said she’ll be back within a month.
The good news is that Bella Rangel returns — she placed fifth at 185 last year at state — as well as fellow sophomore Erin Taylor and freshman Yami Ruiz.
McLane noted that while inexperienced, the rest of the team has a lot of potential.
“There’s a girl that just moved here from California that doesn’t have a whole lot of experience, but she’s going to shock people. She’s really good,” he said. “And there’s a girl being completely mentored by KyLee and is going to be a weight class or two above … She’s from up by the Browning area and she, with limited experience, she’s got a really
good feel and she’s going to do really good by the end of the year.”
Due in large part to the effort of Lindsley, the Panthers placed 9th at state a year ago. While the team doesn’t quite have the depth to compete with the likes of Kalispell Flathead or Billings Senior for team trophies, McLane feels like the program is closing the gap.
“A couple of those other teams are going to be just tough to compete with, they just truly are. They’ve got a lot of numbers on it. But we’re definitely headed in the right direction,” he said. “I’m very excited with this first week of practice just getting wrapped up and seeing that I have a lot of girls that don’t have a lot of experience with wrestling, but they’re very athletic and very good. I think they’re going surprise some people. They’re doing fantastic in practice, and they’re excited about it.”
Following a season in which Belgrade’s swimmers set numerous school records, a small but strong squad will be in the pool this winter for first-year head coach Sara Wussow.
Kat Hall stepped down after one season at the helm, and Wussow was hired about a week before preseason practices began. She becomes the third head coach in the program’s four years of existence.
girls — including a pair of key returners.
“It’s a solid team,” she said. “Six of the eight are Cuda (Bozeman Barracudas) swimmers, year-round swimmers. Two of them haven’t swam for about six months, but I think they’re going to be really strong and we’ll be finishing at least top eight.”
Wussow, who is also a coach for the Bozeman Barracudas Swim Club, has eight athletes to work with — four boys and four
The returners with the most experience are Carl Schuneman for the boys and AJ Lilyquist for the girls. Lilyquist is a returning state placer in 100 freestyle —
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she placed sixth — and set a school record in the prelims of the 100 freestyle (55.07) in addition to the 500 freestyle (5:30.37). The junior also swam legs on the recordsetting 200 freestyle relay and 400 freestyle relay.
“So far she looks great in the water,” said Wussow. “I feel that she’s going to do even better than she did last year going into state. Pretty much will be some freestyle events depending on how her back’s feeling.”
Schuneman helped the 400 relay place 9th at state a year ago with a time of 3:56.85 and the 200 free relay place 10th in 1:45.15. However, he’s the only returning swimmer from those relays.
“He’s looking pretty strong. We’ve only had three practices, but I’m think he’s going to be IM and backstroke. We’ll see how that progresses,” said Wussow. “I need
to talk to them a little bit more about what they did last year too. But he’s looking great in the water.”
The rest of the swimmers are new to the program. The boys team consists of Ryan Hirschi, Prior Russell and Lyle Zimdars, while the other three girls are Dylon Flikkema, Maya Lilyquist and Nora Willems.
While Willems is a member of the team, Wussow noted she will not compete this season following shoulder surgery. Thus, with just three athletes on the girls’ side, the Panthers will not field relay teams.
“We’ll have a boy relay, but we won’t have a girl relay,” Wussow said. “So yeah, it’s (about) individual success for sure.”
The focus during preseason practices, Wussow said, has been on technique.
“I focus a lot on technique, just making them smoother through
the water. Also, their dry land,” she said. “I’m excited for Jason Dudley, he’s the strength coach over there (at Belgrade High). They’ll just be doing some more conditioning and body weight work and plyometrics and things like that. Some shoulder prehab to help prevent any injuries because our season is so short, so just making sure they have that prehab for the season.”
Belgrade is scheduled to begin the season Dec. 13 at an invite in Butte. Wussow hopes to see confidence from her swimmers going into the meet.
“It’s almost like a baseline meet to then tailor it moving forward,” she said. “Like I said, we’ve only had three practices, so kind of seeing where they’re at and how much I can push and the meet will also give me a good baseline for the next few weeks.”
Three times over the past four years Manhattan has reached the state Class B tournament. Third-year head coach Mike Deming hopes to continue the program’s recent success this winter.
The Tigers went 17-1 during the regular season a year ago en route to posting a 22-4 record. Along the way, they won the District 5B Tournament and placed third at the Southern B Divisional.
team. Kragt’s teams posted three winning seasons in four years, including reaching the state championship game in 2021.
The bar was raised for the program by former coach Wes Kragt, who is currently the head coach of the school’s football
“I think coach Kragt set the bar of excellence at Manhattan and all I’ve been trying to do is maintain that bar that’s been set,” said Deming. “Each team that we bring in is trying to live up to that expectation that’s been established. We’ve got a good group of guys but there’s going to be some pieces of that we’re going to have to figure out.”
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Two of those pieces are the void left by Jace Deming and Callin Fenno, who were the team’s two seniors last year. Fenno, a shooting guard, earned All-State honors after averaging 15.2 points per game, while Jace Deming, a point guard, averaged 5.0 points and 2.8 rebounds per game en route to earning second team allconference accolades.
“We’re going to have to figure out a point guard,” said coach Deming. “We’re gonna have to find somebody that’s going to run the show for us and our two seniors, Jace and Callin last year, they did a lot of great things for the team. So we’re gonna have to have some players step up and fill those roles and we have those people, we’re just going to have to figure it out as we go.”
Manhattan has three returning starters in brothers Michael and
Sam Stewart and Chance Fenno.
Sam Stewart was an All-State selection last year, averaging 16.8 and 8.9 rebounds per game.
Michael Stewart was a second team all-conference selection after averaging 12.3 ppg.
Hank Strasser saw key varsity minutes last year and is also back.
“Of the six guys that were really in the rotation last year we have four of them back, so that exciting,” said coach Deming.
“And then we have some other pieces of the puzzle that are going to come into play.”
Those other pieces include seniors Landyn Benson and Kaysen Konkol. Benson returns to the team after not playing last year, while Konkol is a transfer from Belgrade.
Overall, there are five seniors, five juniors, six sophomores and 11 freshmen out for the program.
“We have a nice balance and
mix between seniors and juniors and sophomores,” said coach Deming.
Many of the players competed on the football team, which reached the state championship game for a second straight year this fall. Coach Deming delayed the start of practice to allow players to focus on football.
Thus, he’s not expecting everything to be clicking on all cylinders for the season opener when Manhattan travels to Manhattan Christian on Dec. 7.
“That’s going to be a good test for us because they’re a good team,” said Deming. “That will really give a good opportunity to figure out what we need to do moving forward with this team because other than the four returning varsity returners, the rest of the team are inexperienced playing for us at the varsity level.”
Entering his first season as head coach of Manhattan, Ty Heaps has a veteran crew to work with. But, overall, numbers are down for the program.
There were about 23 players who showed up for tryouts, which is just enough for the Tigers to field three teams — C-squad, JV and varsity. Should the team be hit by the injury bug, however, that would likely change.
in the coming weeks, I would not be surprised if we’re going to just have to do a JV-varsity team. Unfortunately, we won’t really know it until we get into it because we’re right on the line there. If I lose one or two girls there, I’m probably to the place where we’ll have to go to two teams.”
“As of right now, I think so,” Heaps said of fielding three teams. “But if we lose one or two to injury or something like that
The good news is that Manhattan returns an experienced varsity team led by senior Camdyn Holgate. The guard earned first team allconference honors last year in
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District 5B after averaging 12 points per game. She ranked third in the league with 45 3-pointers.
“As of right now, I think likely she’s our best ball handler,” said Heaps. “We’re going to get her defense up to where it needs to be to be able to fill that spot on both sides. This will be her third year starting, fourth year playing varsity … So yeah, her level of just having somebody who’s been in those game situations for three years is huge. She’s certainly going to be a big leader for us.”
Other key returners include seniors Ryley Gault and Morgan Pavlik, and junior Avery Eckert.
The Tigers lost three seniors from a year ago, including Gracie Millimen. The 6-1 post earned AllState honors after averaging 14.6 points per game and shooting 72% from the free throw line.
“Darn it, man, I wish I could
have Gracie one more year,” said Heaps.
Ada Rae Thomas, a sophomore, will fill the void left by Millimen. She attended Manhattan in grade school, competed for Three Forks last year, and transferred back to Manhattan over the summer.
“She obviously didn’t play for us last year, but she played varsity for Three Forks. We picked her up, really excited to have her back,” said Heaps. “She was in Manhattan here, three or four years ago I think was her last year here in Manhattan, so getting her back is amazing. She will be a varsity player for us.”
Heaps noted that sophomore Savannah Droge could be a key contributor for the varsity as well.
“She was big for us in volleyball this year,” he said. “I think she was all-conference in volleyball. She’s a heck of an athlete, we’re excited
to get her going and get her some varsity time as well.”
The Tigers finished with a 16-7 record last year and advanced to the divisional tournament for a second consecutive season. They tipoff 2024-25 campaign Dec. 7 at Manhattan Christian.
“I don’t have any expectations,” said Heaps. “My goal is that they outwork anybody that we play with. One of our mottos is, control the controllable, so what we can do in terms of out-hustle girls and doing the fundamentals better than other teams is really what we’re going to focus on more than anything.
“In terms of how that’s going to turn out for us in terms of our success, that remains to be seen. But I’m hoping myself and my coaching staff can make the adjustments necessary to make that line up our win-loss column in the right way.”
Eleven returning wrestlers highlight a strong turnout for Manhattan’s wrestling program entering the 2024-25 campaign.
With around 25 athletes out for the team, it’s the largest number in program history. So what contributed to the higher participation?
is going to help more with that this year because our first competition is actually going to be in our gym on Dec. 7.” Manhattan is scheduled to host two mixers and will compete locally at events in Belgrade, Bozeman and Three Forks during the season.
“I think it’s an indication that momentum is building within the Manhattan community, and the sport is starting to draw a little bit more attention,” Tigers head coach Patrick Hutchins said. “And I think our competition schedule
There are six returning boys and five returning girls for the team. Among those athletes is Dani Larson.
The sophomore compiled a 36-4 record and placed second a year ago at state in the 100-
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pound weight class. Led by Larson’s effort, Manhattan’s girls finished 29th in the standings among 50 teams.
Seniors Payton Johnson and Jade Bailey also competed at state last year with Johnson going 2-2 at 152. Other returners for the girls are senior Haidyn Steele and sophomore Natalie Stewart.
For the boys, six grapplers competed at state last year but none placed. Cooper Smith, a senior, had the most success, going 2-2 in the two-day tournament.
“Cooper Smith has really stepped up,” said Hutchins. “He was a leader on the team last year, but I can see in him an even deeper desire to really get things done this year and pull this team with him.”
The other returners for the boys are seniors Calvin Stanley
and George Stenberg; juniors Kyler Bailey and Grant Holen; and sophomore Liam Ortman.
“Liam Ortman has been steadily putting in work in the offseason and he’s frequently practicing with Cooper, so those two are pushing each other really well,” said Hutchins.
The coaching staff has been focused on foundational work and Hutchins noted athletes have been progressing well in preseason practices.
“We’ve always put a lot of emphasis on the fundamentals anyway. So certainly there are some athletes in there that could just kind of (already) be at midseason level. But we always build from the foundation up,” he said. “A lot of the newer wrestlers that we have are picking up the skills very, very quickly. So I think we will have a solid base
in terms of skill development for that first competition and then we’ll see where individual interests go after that.”
Manhattan begins the season hosting a mixer that will feature Class AA girls’ programs from Belgrade, Bozeman and Missoula and boys’ teams from Columbus, Dillon, Livingston and Three Forks.
“It is going to be strictly a mixer,” said Hutchins. “We’re calling it our season opener ‘Rust Buster’. It’ll be kind of semistructured. There won’t be any brackets, but we’re looking to do four rounds of wrestling if not three at least.”
The Tigers will compete in four more events prior to Christmas break.
“Always excited to get things going. It’s my favorite time of year,” said Hutchins.
DECEMBER
7 Manhattan Mixer 13-14 at Whitehall Duals 17 at Deer Lodge Mixer 19 at Shepherd 20-21 at Huntley Project
JANUARY
9 Manhattan Mixer 10-11 at Bozeman Invite 16 at Fairfield Mixer 17-18 at Choteau Invite 23 at Three Forks 24-25 at Lewistown (Girls)
FEBRUARY
1 at Butte Central (Boys) 1 at Belgrade (Girls)
6-8 Divisional (Butte) 13-15 State (Billings)
Over the past eight years no team in Class C has enjoyed more success than Manhattan Christian. The program has competed in six state championship games during that span, won three titles and brought home hardware seven times.
A year ago, Christian finished as the state runner up following a close loss to Box Elder in the championship game. While the defeat halted the program’s two-year reign atop Class C, a talented and veteran team returns for another run at the gold trophy this winter.
Entering the season, fifthyear Eagles head coach Layne
Glaus feels his experienced team is ahead of the curve with seven seniors and three juniors returning.
“You would hope so with having that many guys back,” he said. “But as a coaching staff we kind of like to start over every year and we just let the guys know that nothing’s been done yet, the work still needs to be put in, and we’ve talked about it before. We have our goals but most importantly we try to focus on each day.”
That one day at a time approach has proven successful as Christian has boasted a 103-5 record with three district titles, four divisional titles and a pair of state championships under Glaus’
leadership. Thus, there is a high bar within the program that this year’s team will try to maintain.
“Experience helps in that pursuit but it’s just effort and a good attitude. The bar is high, and I think that can be overwhelming for a high school kid or program if your mind’s constantly set on that, which we try to shift our focus to where our identity is,” said Glaus.
“Our identity is in Christ, which means it’s much more important to love the people around you and serve others and understand that you’re just a piece of the whole. And it that gives you an opportunity to practice the ways of Jesus as we say and that’s more important.”
Christian finished with a 25-2 record a year ago and lost just one player from the team in Mason Venema, who earned AllState honors after leading the
team in scoring with 17 points per game. He left a big void to fill on both ends of the court.
“That’s a lot and we don’t score a ton of points,” said Glaus. “We’re kind of middle of the road, so when you’re losing that type of scoring it’s going to take more than one guy.”
Returning for the Eagles are seniors Christian Triemstra, Jack Scott and Rance Hamilton. The trio earned All-State, first team all-conference and second team all-conference honors, respectively.
In addition, seniors Isaac Hoekema, Shaphan Hubner, Carter VanDyken, and Cavan Visser return along with juniors Blaise Bolich, Andrew Kimm and Will Ruffatto. Each of them saw varsity minutes last year.
“Isaac Hoekema’s going to play a big role for us kind
of stepping in. Obviously Christian, he was a great playmaker for us last year, he’ll do the same,” said Glaus. “We got Jack Scott kind of right behind those guys. He doesn’t need to shoot, he does a lot of the little things really well, kind of a glue guy on the court, but we’ll look to have him shoot a little bit more. Carter VanDyken, we’ll look to have him score a little bit more. But for the most part it’ll be (scoring) by committee.”
Christian will begin the season with three consecutive homes games, starting with a Dec. 7 non-conference contest against Manhattan.
The Eagles will then host Whitehall and Lustre Christian Dec. 13-14, respectively, as part of the Manhattan Bank Tip-Off Tournament.
or the first time in five seasons, Manhattan Christian failed to reach the state tournament a year ago. In fact, the Eagles didn’t make it out of the district tournament and endured the program’s first losing season since the 2014-15 campaign.
First-year head coach Rod Triemstra had taken reins of the team just a month prior to the start of the season and the Eagles were up and down throughout en route to an 8-12 record. But now, in year two, Triemstra and returning players are much more comfortable with each other and the bar has been raised.
know any better, so I thought we were ready to go. Now, having a summer, playing a lot of basketball in June and July, working with girls a lot, playing a lot of games against good teams, everybody’s just way more comfortable,” he said. “We have a good idea of what we want to do, I’ve got a better idea of what girls can do, and right away I can tell there’s a good mix between what I expect of them and what they can do.”
Triemstra is optimistic the team can return to the state Class C tournament. But, he added, there’s plenty of work that needs to be done in order for that to happen.
“Last year coming in a month before the season, I didn’t
“We played some tough teams over the summer. We played
some (Class) B teams that were at the state tournament and we beat some. Played some double A teams even, played Belgrade, which is a great team, we’re moving up, and we beat them pretty easily,” Triemstra said. “So I feel like the potential is there for us to get back to the state tournament, but with that being said, we didn’t make it out of district last year. So we got to get past that hurdle first.
“We’re keeping it focused on one game at a time cliché, but obviously, when we went out last year, it’s not where we wanted to be. So we got to do better than that this year.”
There are 14 athletes participating in preseason practices, including varsity returners Bella Triemstra and Sam Veltkamp. Bella Triemstra earned All-State and first team all-conference honors in District
12C a year ago.
“Four seniors, going to lean heavily on them,” coach Triemstra said. “Obviously, Bella, being All-State and kind of our focal point of our team just because she can do a lot of things, she’ll probably play one through five this year at different times.”
Also returning are juniors Aubrey Hofman and Brooke Leep.
The Eagles will not field a C-squad, coach Triemstra said, and there will be five fulltime varsity players with the rest of the varsity swinging down to the JV.
“We got a good mix. A good mix of younger girls and older girls,” he said. “I think they can help each other throughout the season.”
Christian lost two players to graduation from last year in guard Gracie Honey and post Miranda Wyatt, a second team
all-conference selection. But the team also lost junior Hadley Bradford (transferred) and sophomore Karissa Van Kirk. Van Kirk, a 6-2 post, moved to Nebraska to focus on club volleyball, according to coach Triemstra.
While the Eagles lost their post presence with the departure of Wyatt and Van Kirk, 6-2 freshman Emily Straatman should help fill some of that void.
The Eagles also gained transfers Isabelle Dawe and Madelynn Skillman, and sophomore Addie Venema joins after not playing a year ago as a freshman.
Christian tips off the season Dec. 7 hosting friendly Class B rival Manhattan and then hosts Whitehall and Lustre Christian Dec. 13-14, respectively, as part of the Manhattan Bank Tip-Off Tournament.
Terry Hauser always has high expectations for his team and that hasn’t changed for Three Forks heading into the 2024-25 season. The Wolves boast eight seniors — four of whom saw significant action a year ago — including a key transfer.
Thus, Hauser is excited about his team’s potential following a 14-9 campaign a year ago which concluded with a pair of losses at the Southern B Divisional. Can they get back to the state tournament for the first time since winning it all in 2022?
If they can stay healthy and have a little bit of luck in the
postseason, Hauser believes it can happen.
“I think it’s just going to take a solid effort and guys just buying in,” he said. “I think the talent is definitely there. I just think it’s, can we all buy in and become a unit, become one? I think we can, and our division’s stacked. We got to play good basketball when we do get there if we even get there. We got to get through districts first.”
Returning for the varsity are seniors Dylan Swenson, Hunter Feddes, Drydan Frisinger and sophomore Kanon Reichman.
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Swenson earned first team allconference honors and averaged 13.3 ppg a year ago to help Three Forks placed second in District 5B and earn a runner up finish at the district tournament.
“Dylan Swenson and Hunter, this is their third year of experience with me, so that should help a lot,” said Hauser. “And Aaron DeFrance, he can just light up the scoreboard, so he’ll give us a scoring attack as well.”
DeFrance, a versatile guard, joins the program as a senior transfer from Harrison. He helped the Wildcats reach the state Class C tournament last year.
“He can shoot it, he can get to the hoop, he can kind of do it all,” said Hauser. “He’s a solid player … So far, just ready to go to work. Seems like a great kid.”
Seniors Carter Allen, Sawyer Anderson and Devon Long also
return and are expected to have bigger roles this season. Junior Brady Olson should also see more action for the team as well.
“It’s a great senior class, they’re all great kids, they had a great season in football,” said Hauser. “They’ve all been together since seventh grade playing basketball and football. They’re kids of character, they want to be coached.”
The Wolves do have several holes to fill with the departure of Colten Hayder, Sam Tesoro, Shane Williams and Caleb VanVleet.
Williams was a second team allconference selection last year.
But Hauser touted his front court with Frisinger, Reichman and Long each expected to be a strong presence in the paint.
“Our big guys have improved a lot. We’ll be really good inside,” he said. “One of the best teams inside that I’ve had inside the paint since
Colter Miller (a 2019 graduate) played.”
Three Forks will tipoff the season Dec. 13-14 hosting the Magri’s Invitational, which returns for the first time in five years. The tournament will include conference foes Ennis, Jefferson and Lone Peak in addition to Anaconda, Drummond, Shepherd, and Choteau.
The Wolves will compete without Swenson to start the season. He suffered an injury during the football team’s seasonending playoff loss to Malta in November. Swenson’s expected to return after Christmas break, Hauser said.
“Luckily, I trust our depth. I think we’ll have really good depth,” Hauser added. “You got to look at the positives there and it’ll just give other guys a chance to step up until he’s ready to go.”
In an attempt to return
Three Forks to the perennial powerhouse it once was in District 5B, former standout Shayla Stemple was hired to take over the reins of the program.
Stemple, a 2012 alum of Three Forks who was known as Shayla Mack during her playing days, replaces Lacy Noble. Noble stepped down after two seasons at the helm with the Wolves going 15-25 during that span, including an 8-12 record a year ago.
districts, and I think this team is fully capable of doing that.”
The Wolves lost just one player to graduation from last year’s team, but two starters also transferred to other schools. Still, an experienced squad returns led by junior Maddie Tesoro.
Three Forks has had four losing seasons over the past five years and has not made it out of the district tournament since 2021. Stemple hopes that will change this season.
“That’s our main goal this year is to get out of districts and we talked about that,” she said. “That’s our main goal, get out of
The 5-4 point guard earned first team all-conference honors a year ago after leading the team in scoring with 15 points per game. She ranked second in the conference in scoring and fourth in 3-pointers, and is expected to carry a heavy load again this season.
“The ball will be in her hands a lot,” said Stemple. “She’s going to be one of our main ball handlers.”
Returning seniors for the Wolves are Isabell Harris, Bella Jones, Devynn Judd and Kylee
Reichman. Tesoro is the lone returning junior.
“They’ve really shown some great leadership. Their attitudes have been great. They’ve been very open-minded and coachable with the new stuff that we’ve been giving them, so that’s been really awesome to see,” Stemple said of the returning players. “They’re picking everything up pretty quickly.”
A trio of sophomores are also expected to be key contributors in Arabella McCauley, Maya Noble and Hailey Williams. Maya Noble and Williams saw action on the varsity last year.
“They are sophomores and they are going to see a lot of varsity time for us this year,” said Stemple. “I think they’ll step up for us and they’ve been doing great.”
Overall, Stemple said there were about 22 athletes
participating in preseason practices. The one thing that Three Forks will lack this season is a dominant post presence, but Stemple feels the team can make up for that deficiency.
“We have two pretty tall lengthy ones, but then yeah, we don’t have the tallest posts,” she said. “But they read really well where they should be, they’re in the right spots, and they’re very aggressive players and competitive as well. So they have a knack for the ball in terms of rebounding. They go get it, and like I said, they might not be the biggest, but they’re very aggressive and competitive girls.”
With a guard-oriented team, the Wolves will attack opponents with an uptempo approach.
“I think we definitely have the ability to get out and run on people, so we’re really focusing on our transition offense and
getting out and going,” said Stemple. “I think we’re a very quick team as well, so just getting a lot of stops and deflections on defense, I think our defense is going to be really good and it will be very man focused.”
The team’s ability to pressure opponents defensively will likely be a key to their success.
“I’d love to apply a lot of pressure and press at some point, but we won’t be doing that at the beginning,” said Stemple. “High pressure defense and getting out and going in transition.”
Stemple will make her coaching debut Dec. 5 when the Wolves hosts West Yellowstone. There Forks will then host Drummond and Anaconda on Dec. 13 and 14, respectively, in the Magris Invitational. The tournament returns following a four-year break due to Covid and construction at the school.
