SPORTS

SECTION 2:

SPORTS, ENVIRONMENT & OUTDOORS AND HEALTH

Big Horns busy over two weeks of basketball pg. 18 Beyond the beacon pg. 29 Seven benefits of IV therapy pg. 31

Holden finished in first place at the Freeride World Qualifier event at Kicking Horse on Jan. 27. PHOTO BY CAM MAHONEY

Local snowboarder advances dream of competing in Freeride World Tour Holden Samuels notches key wins in Canada

BY GABRIELLE GASSER

BIG SKY – Ever since he was 16, Big Sky native and snowboarder Holden Samuels said he has wanted to be on the Freeride World Tour. After claiming the top spot on podiums at two recent freeride competitions, that dream is within reach.

Holden, 22, finished first in two four-star Freeride World Tour qualifying events at Revelstoke on Jan. 23 and Kicking Horse on Jan. 27. Samuels currently ranks first in the International Freeskiers and Snowboarders Association Region 2, which includes Canada, South America and the United States, in the men’s snowboard category on the Freeride World Qualifier tour.

“It feels pretty good,” Holden said of his recent wins. He hasn’t won a world qualifier event since age 19 and Holden said this is the first season that he has felt fully healthy competing after an ACL tear. “It feels like a lot of the work I’ve done over the past couple years, it’s kind of paid off,” he said.

Holden began snowboarding at age 7 after his family moved to Big Sky. He joined the Big Sky Ski Education Foundation Freeride Team at age 13 but has been competing since he was 10.

“Seeing his passion and joy with this sport through the years has been a gift to us and we are thrilled to see him move closer to his longtime goal of qualifying for the Freeride World Tour,” wrote Holden’s parents, Acra and Chris Samuels, in an email to EBS.

The aspirational rider has a few more hurdles to jump to qualify for the Freeride World Tour.

Previously, skiers and riders counted the top three scores from six competitions to qualify, but a change in the qualification process for 2022 made it so athletes must add up their scores from the first four qualifying events of the season to qualify for the final three events. Then the points start over, and world tour hopefuls are pitted against world tour riders who were recently eliminated from the tour. An athlete’s top two scores from those final three events are counted and the top two riders qualify for the world tour.

Holden’s approach to this 2022 season differs from his past strategies. He says he used to go for the biggest air in his lines but this year he’s focusing more on riding well through an entire line and avoiding big crashes.

“I am really just trying to ride the hardest thing that I can make look easy, because the judges really like that,” Holden said. “When you’re super in control, you’re super-fast, you never stop and it doesn’t look like you’re hesitating on anything.”

A line score is based on five criteria defined by the IFSA: line choice, control, fluidity, technique, and style and energy.

Holden won the IFSA North American Junior Freeride Championship at age 16 and 17 and was invited to return to the Freeride Junior World Championship both years. At age 18, Holden finished second place in the world championship after tearing his ACL earlier that year.

Though his first ACL recovery was quick, Holden tore it again when he was 20 which took over a year for him to heal. Last season was shorter than usual with only three events in the span of a week and a half due to COVID, according to Holden, and he said one fall last year put him behind his fellow competitors.

“I was really motivated for this season because I wanted to be on the Freeride World Tour since I was like 16,” Holden said. “It’s been the only goal in my mind. So every day in the offseason [I’ve been] working out in the gym or hiking mountains or doing whatever just trying to get in shape for the winter.”

Holden has two more four-star qualifying competitions at Snowbird, Utah and Taos, New Mexico in the preliminary round of world tour qualifying events. Based on the two wins he already has under his belt, Holden says he’s already qualified for the final three events of the season which will take place at Crystal Mountain, in Washhington state, Big Sky Resort and Kirkwood Resort in Lake Tahoe.

Big Horns busy over two weeks of basketball

BY GABRIELLE GASSER

BIG SKY – The Lone Peak High School Big Horn basketball teams have played a packed two weeks of basketball. Both boys’ and girls’ varsity teams traveled on Jan. 27 to play the Manhattan Christian Eagles and just the boys squared off against the Shields Valley Rebels on Feb. 3.

At home, the Big Horns hosted the Gardiner Bruins on Jan. 28 and the Class B Townsend Bulldogs on Feb. 4 while the JV boys and varsity girls played the Lima Bears on Feb. 8.

As of EBS press time, the Lady Big Horns sat in eighth place in the District with a 5-8 record and the boys were in last place with a 1-12 record. Both teams have two regular season games left against the Sheridan Panthers at home on Feb.11 for Senior Night and away at West Yellowstone on Feb. 12.

The Big Horns will then head to Butte on Feb. 16 for the Class C District tournament where both the boys and girls will face play-in games.

Below are results and highlights from the last three home basketball games.

Gardiner

On Jan. 28 at the Bough Dolan Athletic Center, the Lady Big Horns took on the Gardiner Lady Bruins, building an early lead and outscoring them 12-8 in the first quarter. The Lady Bruins outscored the Lady Big Horns by 17 points in the fourth quarter securing their victory with a final score of 59-50.

The varsity boys team took the court against the Bruins following the girls in a tight game that went into overtime and concluded in a wrenching five-point loss for the Big Horns. Sophomore Juliusz Shipman came off the Big Horns’ bench and contributed eight points for the evening.

The fourth quarter saw a big momentum shift in favor of the Big Horns and a Shipman layup tied the score at 42.

The four-minute overtime quarter featured ferocious play and with less than a minute left, the Bruins led 52-49 and hit key free throws to widen their lead. The final score favored the Bruins 54-49.

Townsend

On the evening of Feb. 4, the Class C Lady Big Horns faced off against the Class B Townsend Bulldogs at the Bough Dolan Athletic Center.

The Lady Big Horns paced the Lady Bulldogs early in the game and pulled ahead 27-16 at the half, Townsend built a big lead scoring 19 points to Lone Peak’s five. Townsend ended the half leading Lone Peak 27-16.

In the second half, the Lady Big Horns sunk five 3-pointers and their relentless defensive play shut down many scoring opportunities for the Lady Bulldogs, limiting their opponent to just 10 points the entire half. Lone Peak held on to that lead and a buzzer-beater layup from junior Kate King brought the final score up to 43-37.

Sophomore Astrid McGuire (12) looks to the basket against the Lima Bears. PHOTO BY GABRIELLE GASSER

Following the Lady Big Horns, the boys took the court to test their mettle against the Bulldogs Class B team.

Townsend came out with a lightning-fast offense and a pressure defense that largely kept Lone Peak out of the key. At halftime, the Bulldogs led the Big Horns 38-26.

After the half, both teams came out with scrappy, high energy. Three-pointers from juniors Max Romney and Gus Hammond kept the Big Horns competitive though the Bulldogs widened their lead to 55-41 at the end of the third quarter.

The Bulldogs had their highest-scoring quarter of the evening in the fourth with 22 points. The Big Horns capitalized on a couple fast-break opportunities and drew some fouls, but the Bulldogs went on a scoring streak that put them 21 points ahead in the end for a final score of 77-56. Junior Max Romney led the Big Horns in scoring for the evening logging a total of 29 points.

Lima

On Feb. 8, the JV boys’ and varsity girls’ teams hosted the Lima Bears at home.

The Lady Big Horns built an early lead with their consistent 3-point shooting and full court press. They only allowed the Lady Bears to score three points in the first quarter ending it with a 16-point lead 19-3.

Lone Peak continued scoring consistently and building their lead in the second quarter with offensive rebounds and second-chance points. A buzzer-beater 3-pointer boosted the Lady Big Horns’ lead to 35-10 at half time.

In the third quarter the pressure from the Lady Big Horns began to show causing Lady Bears turnovers. Lima did manage to log nine points to end the third quarter down 4819 to Lone Peak.

The Lady Big Horns scored 13 points in the fourth quarter cementing their victory with a final score of 61-29.

The evening saw the Lady Big Horns set two school records with nine 3-pointers in the first half and 13 total 3-pointers in the entire game. Seven of the nine girls on the team made 3-pointers and all nine of the girls scored.

“We spent the first 75 percent of the season working on offense—we set a goal of getting an average of 50 points per game and improving our 3-point shooting ability,” wrote Head Coach Loren Bough in an email to EBS. “However, as the saying goes, ‘Defense wins championships,’ and over the past two weeks we have reset our focus on improving our defense both man to man and our press while reducing the number of fouls we commit.”