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The Big Sandy girls have taken their lumps this season against the best the District 9C has to offer on the basketball court. This week proved no exception. A favorite to win the Class C state championship paid a visit to the Lady Pioneers Monday before the two-time defending state champions stopped by Friday. Each departed with a decisive win, leaving little left in the tank for the Pioneers Saturday as they traveled to North Star and dropped their fourth straight. The Fort Benton Longhorns were first up and only an additional three points...
The rematch of a game that went down to the wire for the Big Sandy boys' basketballers again provided plenty of excitement late. Unfortunately, a Pioneer team that shot out to a 31-16 lead at halftime had no interest in such second-half heroics and fell again to nonleague foe Denton-Geyser-Stanford in frustrating fashion. DGS previously defeated the Pioneers 64-61 on Jan. 3 in Big Sandy. Defensively, Big Sandy felt the business end of a pointed comeback effort as the host Bearcats roared back...
Stepping back out of league play for a night, the Big Sandy girls hoop squad could not even the season series Friday with Denton-Geyser-Stanford. Facing a foe who came north earlier this season and spoiled the Lady Pioneers' night, the Big Sandy offense simply could not get enough buckets to fall in a 52-12 romp for the Bearcats in Denton. "We put up shots," Big Sandy coach Pete Jerrel said. "Just could not get many to fall." While DGS sank seven three-pointers on the night, the Pioneers were...
The lone home wrestling meet on the calendar for Big Sandy came and went in a flash. Class C wrestling programs on and near the Hi-Line are depleted right now and it showed Thursday evening. “With the sicknesses and injuries, (visitors) brought about half of their kids,” Pioneers coach Tucker Taylor said. Though it required some of the boys on the Fort Benton-Big Sandy coop team, Harlem and Chinook to step up a weight class or two, each grappler present got to wrestle at least two, and in some cases, three matches. Freshman Tannin Baumann wen...
When the final buzzer sounded, the Big Sandy Lady Pioneers started embracing and jumping up and down on the sideline. With a 36-30 triumph Thursday against the visiting Chinook Sugarbeeters, the Pioneer girls ended a couple of significant skids that were weighing heavily on a tough-luck squad. The victory represented the first win in District 9C play for Big Sandy in more than two years, when they trumped Hays-Lodgepole 50-39 on January 23, 2018. Twenty-seven losses in the tough conference that...
A three-game winning streak for the Big Sandy boys on the hardwood met a buzzsaw in the form of the relentless Chinook Sugarbeeters Thursday. The Pioneers recovered from a 75-43 defeat to complete a season sweep of Hays-Lodgepole Saturday, winning 51-43. At home against Chinook, Big Sandy did not give the Beeters the same run for their money that they did in an earlier road contest. "We just seemed unmotivated. We played so tough in Chinook," Pioneers coach Thomas Dilworth lamented. "I don't...
For the first time in league play and since the season's opening weekend overall, the Big Sandy Pioneer boys basketball team swept its weekend games. The Pioneers used a 30-5 demolition of visiting Turner in the third quarter Friday to fuel an 82-48 win. Big Sandy went on the road Saturday to knock off the Chester-Joplin-Inverness Hi-Line Hawks by a 59-44 count. For most of the first half, it looked like a scrappy Tornado team would pester and irritate the Pioneers until the end. "We came out...
Two points in the five minutes tacked on to regulation were all that separated the Big Sandy Lady Pioneers from ending an agonizing losing streak Saturday in Chester. Madison Terry nailed a three-pointer with three seconds left on the clock to knot the game against CJI at 35. At that point, it seemed to many of the Big Sandy faithful that destiny finally favored their hard-luck squad. Alas, it proved only a tease. The Hi-Line Hawks held homecourt and gritted out a 41-39 overtime win. "It was a h...
For one half of basketball, the Big Sandy Pioneers exorcised their frustrations Saturday on an overwhelmed opponent. Having dropped their last three games - two of which were by a combined eight points - the boys in purple and gold looked determined to blow the doors off North Star. Jumping out to a 22-5 advantage, suffocating Big Sandy defense prevented the Knights from scoring until 3 minutes, 44 seconds had elapsed. Pioneer senior Ryan Roth had already scored in double digits by the time the...
With a 7-2 run to open the contest, the Big Sandy girls basketball team looked ready to bounce back Saturday against North Star. The Lady Pioneers were coming off a 58-26 defeat at two-time defending state champion Box Elder a night earlier. In the opening minutes, they looked read to pick on someone their own size. Senior Seanna Demontiney made a pass that set up classmate Lainey Gregory beautifully for a lay-in to make it 2-2. Fellow senior Amanda Cline snagged a steal and Gregory put the...
Almost two weeks removed from their previous game, the Big Sandy boys basketball team hit the floor this weekend with unsatisfying results of differing kinds. The Pioneers were unable to get off a potential game-tying shot Friday in a 64-61 non-league home loss to Denton-Geyser-Stanford. They lost senior Brock Proulx to injury in that contest before going to Fort Benton to face the District 9C favorite, falling 59-35 to the Longhorns. Proulx took an accidental blow just above his eye that he...
The Big Sandy girls found themselves in an early hole against both their weekend hardcourt opponents and the Lady Pioneers could not climb all the way out in either matchup. The Pioneers (0-3, 1-5) played even with Denton-Geyser-Stanford after a turnover-filled first quarter but fell 47-32 Friday at home. On Saturday, they ran into the buzzsaw known as the Great Falls Tribune No.3-ranked Fort Benton Longhorns, losing 70-11. Seven giveaways by Big Sandy allowed the visiting Bearcats to rush out...
The tests are coming early for the Big Sandy boys basketball team and results in the opening weekend of District 9C play were mixed. The Pioneers (3-1, 1-1) split their first pair of league games with a 68-53 defeat Friday at Chinook before a thrilling 77-63 victory in a virtual track meet against Hays-Lodgepole. The Saturday night contest in their home gym provided no shortage of firepower. With a 49-31 halftime lead, the Pioneers were on pace to threaten the century mark before things slowed...
The Big Sandy girls could not keep pace with Chinook and Hays-Lodgepole in their first pair of league matchups this season. In the 9C opener Friday, the Lady Pioneers kept it competitive with the Sugarbeeters but fell 47-34 on the road, led by 13 points from senior Lainey Gregory. The home opener a night later proved an even tougher challenge. Hays-Lodgepole employed suffocating defense to force Pioneer turnovers and a devastating deluge of three-pointers out on the perimeter to win 62-14....
Big Sandy High School wrestlers are joining historical rivals again on the mat this winter. A pair of Big Sandy boys are competing with Fort Benton as teammates, not rivals, for the third season of co-op wrestling between the two schools, said coach Tucker Taylor. The hundreds of miles that will be logged this season just traveling to join their Longhorn teammates bear witness to the dedication of junior Bayley Genereux and freshman Tannin Baumann to the sport. Taylor works with the Big Sandy duo twice a week and they travel as a trio twice a...
Perhaps the Big Sandy junior high boys’ basketball team and their coach were the only ones who thought they could win the district tournament this year. Even if so, it was enough. The Pioneers knocked off a Box Elder team in the semifinals that had not lost in three years and topped Big Sandy in the championship game a year prior. “We talked in the locker room a lot about ‘Do you want to feel like you did last year or do you want to feel different?’” Pioneers coach Thomas Dilworth said. The Pioneers’ play on the court answered that question sat...
This is the year to put it all together. When third-year coach Thomas Dilworth arrived at Big Sandy, he could look ahead to this year and see how things would be shaping up for the Pioneer varsity boys. There are six seniors on the squad. “Few teams bring back as much experience as we have,” Dilworth said. He speaks about his team with confidence and something intangible, akin to the excitement children display on Christmas morning just before the lid comes off the biggest box. “We hope to create a lot of mismatch problems … I think we have si...
New Year’s Day is still a few weeks away but the Big Sandy Lady Pioneers have already turned the page and are looking to a fresh start. First-year head coach Pete Jerrel enters with some familiarity with many of his players, having coached them as junior high ballers. Jerrel has also previously been an assistant coach for the varsity boys. “There’s some good athletes on the team … a whole pile of them that can get up and down the floor,” he said. The Pioneers will need to make the most of their athleticism to compete in a strong 9C district....
Though their regular season schedule concluded Saturday with a jamboree in Hays, Big Sandy junior high basketballers still have some hoop to play after the Thanksgiving holiday. With a district tournament slated for next week, the Pioneers have a chance to wrap up 2019 on a good note after some frustrating stretches without the availability of key players. Those struggles were evident Monday, Nov. 18, when Big Sandy welcomed Chester-Joplin-Inverness to their gym for a previously-postponed pair of tilts. The Pioneer girls’ squad dropped a 3...
Big Sandy volleyball players were recognized early last week for their accomplishments at the end of a season that concluded with achievement of an important team goal. A team banquet permitted the Lady Pioneers to reflect on a fall that had its ups and downs but capped with a remarkable upset-filled run to the divisional tournament. In a players' vote, senior Amanda Cline earned the award for "scrappiest" player. "It's probably about the biggest deal because that's the one the girls really...
The 6-man football state tournament could still have a Hollywood ending this weekend. It just won't feature the Big Sandy Pioneers. The Pioneers' final scene in this year's production faded to black (and orange) on a windswept and muddy field Saturday in the heart of Garfield County. The stars of the afternoon matinee were the host and East Division champion Jordan Mustangs (11-1) from the opening curtain to the final credits in a 55-25 win. "They played great defense. They had a great plan,...
Big Sandy football got over a major hump Saturday in its state quarterfinal win, 60-6 at home against Roy/Winifred. It is the third consecutive season the Pioneers (10-0) reached the second round of the 6-man football tournament and unlike the last two seasons, these Pioneers are moving beyond it. Star running back Kade Strutz averaging first-down yardage on each carry, picking up 150 yards and five touchdowns on his 10 rushing attempts, helped Big Sandy to advance. So did Clint Darlington's...
The Big Sandy Lady Pioneers would not make the same splash at the divisional tournament in Cascade that they did at districts in Chinook. The magic that carried them to the second level of the postseason ran out Thursday as the Pioneer volleyball squad lost its two matches at divisionals to Power and all-too-familiar 6C East foe North Star. Power advanced past Big Sandy 25-22, 25-26, 22-25, 25-13. Senior Seanna Demontiney led the Pioneers with seven kills and junior Alicia Bjornestad added...
In a remarkably effective team-bonding exercise, the Big Sandy Lady Pioneers all went as Cinderella for their Halloween party this year. What a party it turned out to be, the 6C East district volleyball tournament hosted by Chinook High School on Halloween night. While the Pioneer netters did not literally don ball gowns and glass slippers for the event, they busted the October/November bracket just like the legends of March Madness. With wins against foes Chester-Joplin-Inverness and Box Elder...
The conventional wisdom holds that to knock Big Sandy off its undisputed No. 1 perch in 6-man football, an opponent just needs to stop the offensive bombardment of Kade Strutz rushes. For the second consecutive week, a playoff team threw literally everything they had at doing just that and found it easier said than done. Richey-Lambert (7-3) succeeded no more in their efforts than did Power-Dutton-Brady a week earlier in the conference title game. Strutz carried 30 times for 265 yards and four...
