GREAT FALLS — All good things must come to an end.
And make no mistake. Big Sandy had a good run in postseason boys basketball.
Great even. Yet it ended March 3 in Great Falls against the Belt Huskies, who by virtue of a 58-39 win in the Northern C divisional tournament’s final game, snagged the last ticket to state in Missoula.
The Pioneers finished the season with a 16-11 record and hoisted hardware for their third-place finish.
“There are only 12 teams taking home a trophy out of the (81) teams in the (Class) C … and we’re one of them,” Big Sandy head coach Thomas Dilworth said. “I’m proud of these guys. They have nothing to hang their heads about.”
Barely 48 hours after their surprise bid for the divisional title ended up short against undefeated Fort Benton, the Pioneers faced a Belt squad who came back through the consolation bracket to force a challenge game after their own quarterfinal loss to the Longhorns.
The Huskies, champions of the District 8C and a perennial contender in the Northern C, established a commanding lead early on the strength of a 13-0 run to close the first quarter with a 17-4 lead. Big Sandy showed evidence of inexperience in such high-stakes playoff games after a seven-year absence from the divisional tourney.
“We just picked a bad night to have a bad night,” Dilworth said. “We seemed more focused on not losing and being anxious and not focused on the task at hand. As coaches, we should have done a better job preparing them.”
Big Sandy benefited from rallies from as much as 16 points earlier in the tournament in come-from-behind wins against Centerville and Heart Butte. A 5-0 run late in the third quarter drew the Pioneers within shouting distance at 38-30 with senior Ryan Roth sinking one of two free throws, senior Clint Darlington putting back his own miss on the offensive glass and Roth capping the stretch with a runner banked in at 1 minute, 10 seconds remaining in the third period.
Belt only pulled away from there, led by a game-high 20 points from Aidan McDaniel and 15 more from Hunter Vogl, at night’s end. The Huskies’ lockdown defense forced 18 Big Sandy turnovers to key the win.
The Pioneers managed just 38 percent shooting, including a dismal 1-of-8 from behind the arc.
After the final buzzer sounded, there were emotional hugs from family and friends and words of encouragement for the team.
“It’s been unbelievable. I honestly didn’t think it would go the way it did,” senior Jeremiah Genereux said, looking back on the postseason stretch. “We rallied together as teammates, because we’re family … and did the unthinkable.”
“It’s just nice to see everything come together at the end,” Darlington added from the bowels of Four Seasons Arena postgame.
He led the Pioneers with 13 points and a game-high 11 rebounds in the final game. Roth added 10 points and six assists.
Darlington pointed to the obvious high point of the postseason for Big Sandy as an indelible memory, the semifinal domination of the defending Northern C champion to avenge three earlier losses this season.
“Winning the Chinook game,” he said. “It’s just a team we’ve never beaten before.”
The dividends of the Pioneers’ journey through a memorable 2019-2020 season will pay off for years to come, Dilworth said.
“What the kids learned is how to work and not give up, to be dependable, to be team players,” he said. “I’m not worried about one kid on this team being successful at life … to be ready to be good husbands and fathers, that’s what we’re trying to teach them about and basketball is just a tool.
“The real success is having them come back five years later and say, ‘Thank you, Coach’ … when they talk about Big Sandy basketball, what they talk about is the heart and the character of the team.”
Dilworth had words of praise for two graduating players who had outstanding tournaments.
“(Darlington) came out of nowhere. He was certainly our most improved player. Just dominant,” he said. “And Ryan Roth. How many other kids drop 43 in an (entire) tournament? He did it in just one tournament game (against Heart Butte). When teams game-plan to stop just one player, that says there’s something special about that player.”
