2020 PCN Sports Review

Publisher's Note: History will reflect that 2020 has been one of the toughest years in the world of sports due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Events were postponed, or cancelled, beginning with the final day of State Basketball tournaments, which led to the cancellation of the 2020 spring sports seasons.

Eventually, the Montana High School Sports Association opened the doors for schools to have a safer way to participate in sporting events, culminating in the successful completion of the 2020 Falls Sports season.

All along the way, 2020 has been filled with joy, happiness, sadness, uncertainty, and questions of what if?

The year has been rough for live events but the PCN has selected some of the year's highlighted stories pertaining to sports.

This list was made in no particular order of importance. Five of the ten stories were selected because of the number of clicked that they have received on the Phillipscountynews.com website and five stories were the Sports Editor's picks.

TOP FIVE ON PCN WEBSITE

#1 LoneBear signs to play at Dawson

PCN Issue Date: April 15, 2020 Views: 2400

Hard work pays off; that's the message that Dodson High School senior Corbin LoneBear and his parents Pat and Sarah Ditmar want to send.

LoneBear, a 6'5" Dodson Coyote standout, has signed his letter of intent to play basketball at Dawson Community College in Glendive, as a Buccaneer in the 2020-2021 season. In doing so, LoneBear has made a dream come true; to play basketball at the next level.

"In seventh or eighth grade, I knew I wanted to keep playing ball, more and more," LoneBear said. "I just wanted to be able to play at the next level."

In order to help him reach his goal, LoneBear practiced and practiced and practiced, with Pat saying that there were days Corbin would wake up before 5:30 a.m. to get to the school's basketball court. Pat said that there were many days that Corbin would get done playing basketball after 10 p.m.

"He worked and worked," Pat said.

Pat also said that when Dodson High School built their new weight room a couple of years ago, LoneBear took advantage, and added muscle to his frame.

LoneBear, who was named to the District 3C All-State and All-Conference team in his senior year, was approached by Dawson Community College Head Coach Joe Peterson during the 2020 Eastern C Divisional Tournament. By the conclusion of that tournament, Dodson made school history by winning their first Boy's Divisional trophy since 1966.

"We are excited to have Corbin join our program," Coach Peterson said. "He has a lot of potential as a basketball player. I think by training consistently and going up against high-level players, he will grow and develop into that potential!"

#2 Smith named track coach

PCN Issue Date: April 1, 2020 Views: 1496

Though the spring sports season is in question for 2020, the Malta Mustangs and M-ettes track and field teams welcomed home a familiar face at the helm.

Prior to the current worldwide threat of the Covid-19 virus, Malta High School hired former M-ette standout Kaitlyn Smith as its newest head coach.

"It means so much," Coach Smith said about being Malta's Track Coach. "I am so excited because Malta has a great tradition of excellence. To be back and to be able to coach is a great opportunity and I am really excited to have this opportunity."

Smith was chosen by Malta Public Schools to fill the vacancy left by former Malta Track Coach Jim Benn, who now coaches and teaches at Missoula-Loyola.

Smith applied for the position of assistant coach last May and was called for the head coach job this past January.

With Smith are assistant coaches Kalli Rummel who is the team's throw coach, Nick Oxarart who coaches sprints, and Kourtney Simonson, who was a three-sport athlete in her years at Whitewater High School.

Before school closures happened around the country, the team did start practices on Monday, March 9, and held three practices before the closing began in Mid-March.

"I think we had around 20 kids," Coach Smith said. "I gave them Thursday and Friday off because of state basketball."

Though Coach Smith understands why the country has gone into quarantine mode, she like many in our country is missing normalcy.

"I'm pretty disappointed because I was really excited for the season and I was really excited for the kids," Coach Smith said.

One of the toughest things for Smith was that students in the school's foreign exchange program were excited to compete.

"They were so excited for it and then they had to go back home," Coach Smith said.

#3 M-ette great recalls 2000 team title

PCN Issue Date: May 27, 2020 Views: 1457

It has been two decades since the 2000 Malta M-ettes track team was crowned the State B champion, earning the school a three-peat.

The team won the title on Saturday, May 27, 2000, with a total of 74 points.

This past week, the PCN caught up with Mariah (Guilfoyle) Patterson who won four individual events that season and a school record of 13 state championship medals. She currently lives as a stay-at-home mom in Lewistown, Mont. with her husband R.J. Patterson and their two sons 11-year-old Colt Patterson and eight-year-old Jett.

Patterson, who was born in Libby, Mont., and her parents Bob and MaryAnne Guilfoyle moved to Malta during her freshman year, a year that she had been looking forward to for most of her young life.

"I grew up watching my sisters (Shannon, Courtney, and Mary-Kate, who all went to Billings Central) run track and I could not wait for my turn," Patterson said.

Before the move to Billings, Mont., Patterson and her family lived in Noxon, Mont. without electricity. After Billings, the family moved to Malta because they liked the area and found a house to renovate.

"I remember my first day of school, I was living in the back of a pickup camper," she said.

Though she had success in each of her seasons at MHS, Patterson learned a hard and valuable lesson during her freshman year. She was posting the fastest times in the state for Class B, but she was cited with a MIP, disqualifying her from post-season competition.

"We were just out one night," she said. "I had a great season, was super excited, and had a few beers. We got pulled over and I got a MIP."

Patterson remembers that moment as being one of the worst moments in her life, but she also said that it pushed her to compete harder.

"It made me want to run more, I wanted to win more, I wanted to be the best," she said. "And I will never forget watching that bus drive to Missoula, and I wasn't on it."

To this day, thinking of the situation makes her shake.

Though she pushed to become a better athlete, Patterson said that she remembered the feeling of disappointing many, including her teammates, coach, the community, and most of all, her parents.

"You don't realize the impact that your bad choices have until you let everyone down and hurt the people around you," Patterson said emphatically. "So make good choices."

She believes that her poor decision cost her four or five more state titles.

"I was never doing that again," Patterson said.

#4 85 Mustangs relive championship

PCN Issue Date: April 15, 2020 Views: 1331

Since the 1971 State B Championship, the Malta Mustangs have won eight titles in eight attempts.

A few weeks ago, the Phillips County News caught up with former Malta Mustang basketball head coach Mike Woodman, who coached Malta to the 1985 State B Championship. This week, the PCN reached out to Mike McNamara (who was a senior), Brian Henderson (who was a junior), and Brant Young (who was a senior); a trio of players that were on the team that won the State B title that year in the infamous triple-overtime win over the Browning Indians.

That year, both McNamara and Henderson were named to the All-State team, a team that was chosen by sportswriters and broadcasters present at the 1985 State B Tournament in Great Falls. McNamara, who scored 23 points in the championship was chosen at the Most Valuable Player for the tournament. Henderson had 20 points and Ross Anderson had 19.

Though McNamara was the team's MVP, he fouled out with 2:54 seconds left in regulation. He was in a difficult spot, but still had faith in his team.

"We had as much talent as any team in the state," McNamara said. "We could go six deep or eight if we needed to. Our sixth man would've started on any team in the state. We were in a good position talent-wise and we worked harder than anybody."

Starting that year were McNamara, Henderson, Anderson, Clark Darrah, and Stacy Nicholson. The starters were backed by Young, Danny Shores, Ty Fried, Morris Denham, Ted Veseth, Ron Martinez, and Brad Williams.

Though things worked out for Malta in 1985, the first season under Coach Woodman in 1982-83 was a rough year for Malta according to McNamara, who was a sophomore that season.

"The core group of players were underclassmen and we decided that we wanted to be good players," McNamara said. "We really put in the time and we really drank the Kool-Aid with what Woodman was telling us."

#5 M-ettes head to state

PCN Issue Date: March 11, 2020 Views: 1291

The M-ettes will have their hands full this week as they head to Butte for the 2020 State Class B Girls' Basketball Tournament. The tournament will be played alongside the Boys' tournament this week starting Thursday, March 12, and concluding on Saturday, March 14.

The Northern B will be represented by the champion Malta M-ettes, runner up Shelby Coyotes, and third place Harlem Wildcats. The Western B will be represented by the champion Loyola-Sacred Heart Rams, and second place Bigfork Valkyries. The Southern B will bring the champion Colstrip Lady Rams, second-place Big Timber Sheepherders, and third place Forsyth Dogies.

Prior to the post-season six of eight state contenders were ranked in the top ten class B schools around the state in 406mtsports.com's top ten. Malta was not one of those teams, but the team has taken well to being underestimated, winning the Northern B title last weekend, going 3-0.

Malta Head Coach Nate Hammond shared his approach to the shortened week.

"A lot of what we are working on is the mental side of the game, not so much conditioning," Coach Hammond said. "We will only have two practices at home and then we will hit the road Wednesday and practice there."

The M-ettes are slated to take on the Dogies, who was listed in the aforementioned website's top five. Their first-round game is scheduled for Thursday, March 12, at 3:30 p.m. at the Butte Civic Center.

"We are just really excited about the way we are playing right now and that we will get a chance at state to do the same thing and play the same way," Malta Head Coach Nate Hammond said.

PUBLISHER'S TOP FIVE

#1 Three Wrestlers Place at State

PCN Issue Date: February 19, 2020

The Malta Wrestling team saw its first State B championship bout since 2014, as senior Callan Mears qualified and wrestled for the 160-pound title on Saturday, February 15, in Billings at the Rimrock Arena.

Mears would fall in the championship to Rylin Burns of Colstrip, taking second place in his weight class, while freshman Cameron Mikesell took third place in the 113 class and freshman Camryn "Reggie" Mears took sixth in the 145 class.

"Between divisionals and state, I think we wrestled our best the whole year, so I couldn't really be happier," Malta Head Coach Steve French said.

As a team, the Mustangs took 11th place with a total of 60 points with a total of five wrestlers. Their total was second amongst Northern B teams, despite Malta taking fifth at the Northern B Divisional.

The Glasgow Scotties won the Class B title with 154 points. Huntley Project was second with 134, Lincoln County was third with 126, Whitehall was fourth with 117, and Circle was fifth. Cut Bank was the highest placing team from the Northern B, taking 10th with a total of 66 points.

In Mears' championship match against Burns (who won a state title in 2019), Mears was caught in a shrug move and was pinned at the 28 second mark.

"He just turned us with a half-nelson, which is unusual at this level," Coach French said of Burns. "So he must be incredibly strong. I wish we had wrestled him prior to that time. He was at 170 earlier this year and dropped down, so we didn't have a chance to wrestle him."

#2 Revisiting Young's boxing career

PCN Issue Date: May 6, 2020

James Brant Young made perhaps one of the greatest plays in Malta High School history on Saturday, March 16, 1985, but before and after his game-saving three-point play in that state basketball championship, Young was formidable in the boxing ring.

Born in Havre and raised in Malta, Young is the son of Gary and Donna Young of Wagner. During his boxing career, he had around 160 fights and 12 losses, according to his memory. His career included All-Navy and All-Forces Championship titles in 1991. Since then he has had 28 surgical procedures.

"I have been very fortunate in my life and very successful at a lot of things but none of it came without a price," Young said. "When you are young, you don't think about things like that."

He said that he has been through a lot of pain, but there is not a thing that he would change as far as his sports career is concerned.

Young, who won five Montana youth boxing state titles, started boxing at the age of nine, and a weight of 55 pounds. That first year he began his reign as state champion in 1975. He would win a title again in 1976 at 60 pounds, and then in 1977 at 65 pounds. He was third at state in 1978 but won the Rocky Mountain Junior Golden Gloves that year. The Rocky Mountain Junior Golden Gloves includes boxers from Montana, Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming. He also won state in 1979 and 1980. He was third at regionals in 1980.

Being a freshman in 1981, Young put his boxing career on hold and focused his attention on basketball. He was known for having a hard work ethic while on the basketball team, to a point that other teammates would tell him to tone it down. He even had an incident that involved the paramedics.

"I had to call the EMT one time because he had run so hard in practice that he collapsed," former Malta basketball Head Coach Mike Woodman said.

#3 Mustangs win Mascot Madness

PCN Issue Date: April 8, 2020

Duchscher Kapperud Insurance (DKI), a company in Havre gave the Hi-Line a very important question to be answered through social media; who has that best school mascot in Northeastern Montana?

According to voters in the Duchscher Kapperud Insurance Mascot Madness competition on Facebook, the answer was in fact, the Malta Mustangs. The Mustangs edged out the Box Elder Bears on Friday, April 3, in a competition that featured 16 teams including the North Star Knights, Box Elder Bears, Chinook Sugarbeeters, and Dodson Coyotes in Group A, The Hi-Line Hawks, Fort Benton Longhorns, Glasgow Scotties, and Harlem Wildcats in Group B, The Hays-Lodge Pole Thunderbirds, Havre Blue Ponies, Malta Mustangs, and North Country Mavericks in Group C, and the Big Sandy Pioneers, Rocky Boy Northern Stars, Shelby Coyotes and Turner Tornadoes in Group D.

The competition started on Monday, March 16, after the announcement that all NCAA March Madness Basketball tournaments were canceled amid the COVID-19 virus pandemic.

"We could tell that everyone was a little bummed after all of the sporting events were canceled due to COVID-19," said DKI agent Karston Donoven. "Therefore, we wanted to create a fun and positive competition that people could follow along with and still be able to show their school pride."

Donoven said that with the office being located in Havre, the company went as far in every direction that they needed to go to fill the 16-team bracket.

#4 The Mustangs and M-ettes went head to head

PCN Issue Date: September 23, 2020

When the Wolves are away, the Mustangs and M-ettes will play.

What was supposed to be a weekend full of Homecoming games, Senior Night celebrations, and festivities was thwarted by postponements due to COVID concerns.

The Malta Mustangs were scheduled to take on the Wolf Point Wolves on Friday, September 19, and the Malta M-ette Volleyball team was scheduled to face the Lady Wolves, but Malta Public Schools released a letter last Thursday afternoon stating the games against Wolf Point would be postponed based on the information given to the Phillips County Health department from Indian Health Services in Wolf Point.

Instead of taking the weekend off, the Malta coaches and administration let the public know that the Mustangs and M-ettes would see action in a couple of Co-ed events that pitted the football team and volleyball team against each other.

The first event occurred at 4 p.m. on Friday, September 19, at the Malta Gymnasium as the Malta Football Team took on the M-ettes in a friendly game of volleyball.

The M-ettes varsity and JV teams both posted three wins over the Mustangs. The set scores of the varsity game were 15-4, 15-6, and 15-10.

After the volleyball games, the M-ette and Mustang athletes met at Mustang Field for co-ed flag football. Each team was comprised of boys and girls assigned by their class. Teams had five downs to score a touchdown with the ball placed at the 40-yard line. If a boy scored a touchdown, then it was worth one point and if a girl scored a touchdown it was worth two points.

#5 M-ettes finish strong / Malta wins last game of season

PCN Issue Date: March 18, 2020

The Malta M-ettes basketball season ended with a victory, but unfortunately, the team and other teams that were still in the 2020 Class B tournament Consolation bracket, have no hardware.

The tournament came to an end last Friday night amid the national crisis caused by the 2019 strain of the Coronavirus (COVID-19). While other national sporting events were canceled days prior, the Montana State Basketball tournaments went on for two out of the three scheduled days. Four cases of the virus were found to be positive, pushing the MHSA to cancel the event.

Malta Head Coach Nate Hammond shared his thoughts on the subject.

"I was disappointed that it ended," Coach Hammond said. "I think all of the teams, coaches, and people involved in the tournament wanted it to go one more day just to prove themselves."

Coach went on to say that in general, he was extremely happy with how the M-ettes performed late in the season, mentioning their 2020 Northern B Title and their win at state.

"I am glad the season didn't end one week before or two weeks before because we had a pretty good run at the end," Coach Hammond said.

At State, Malta lost their opening game of the tournament against the Forsyth Dogies last Thursday in Butte, but went on to defeat Bigfork in the opening round of consolation.

Malta was able to overcome some tough breaks on missed foul calls and poor free-throw shooting late in their win over the Bigfork Valkyries on Friday morning. The score was 48-43.