Big Sandy boys basketball coach Thomas Dilworth has been preaching the same message all season to his young squad and the Pioneers looked ready Saturday night to don their choir robes in response.
Be playing your best basketball come tournament time.
Big Sandy undoubtedly produced its most dominant effort all year in the regular season finale, as 11 Pioneers made it into the scorebook en route to an 88-54 win against Hays-Lodgepole.
Sophomores Braydon Cline and Kody Strutz each poured in 23 points. Cline added 8 assists and the Pioneers did what they needed to do to earn a home opener for the District 9C playoff.
At press time, the Pioneers were expected to return to their home court Tuesday to face North Star.
"It was either win or travel," Dilworth smiled. "Our guys didn't want to travel, I guess."
"I feel like it was probably the most fun game we've played in since last year's divisionals," Cline said following the HLP win.
"Everybody keeps talking about how this team is going to be great in a few years. They're good enough right now," Dilworth said. "If they play like they played tonight, this team could beat last year's team."
That is a team that advanced from the 9C and upset Chinook in the divisional semifinal, coming one win short of making it to the state tournament. Those Pioneers graduated their low post terror Clint Darlington and prolific point guard Ryan Roth, now suiting up at Rocky Mountain College.
Yet nearly everyone else is back and Cline, who hit some key shots last postseason in Great Falls, has had to step up more than just on occasion this year.
"I've had to be a leader on this team," he said. "I've just had to work harder."
He went to work early Saturday night, scoring 13 of his points in the first half which included the Pioneers' first seven of the game.
Big Sandy led 42-31 at halftime as Tyshawn Shambo's 22 first-half points kept the Thunderbirds within striking distance.
"He's a beast. He was killing us," Dilworth said. "We went to a box-and-one (defense) in the second half and then that shut him down."
Indeed, Shambo posted just six more points to add to his game-high total in the third and fourth quarters. As they did a night earlier in Turner, the Pioneers pulled away with a third quarter outburst. Big Sandy outclassed HLP 26-10 in the third stanza, boosted by Rusty Gasvoda scoring 8 of his 12 points on the night.
"All we talked about was the extra pass," Dilworth said, in preparing for these games. "(Rusty) has never been in double figures until tonight ... and you know why? Extra passes. Teammates looking to get everybody involved."
By the final buzzer, Big Sandy had emptied its bench. Eighth graders Jake Darlington and Sonny Philips had uncorked three-pointers and classmates Sam Cox, Severin Heimbigner and Darrell Sunchild had connected from the floor for two. Freshmen and regular contributors Lane Demontiney (8 points), Cooper Taylor (6) and Wylee Snapp (4) had each made their impact as well.
"That's the team I've envisioned all season," Dilworth said. "That is the best we've played as a team."
Senior Kade Strutz remained on standby, entering only in the final minutes to help facilitate for his younger teammates, having rolled his ankle at Turner. He is expected to be at full strength for the tournament.
The Pioneers used a 14-4 third quarter to make the difference in a 59-52 defeat of the Tornadoes on Friday. Kody Strutz led the way with 21 points while Cline and Kade each added 11.
Big Sandy finishes the regular season at 6-7, shy of the .500 mark only as a result of no contest earlier in the season at Hays-Lodgepole due to a COVID-19 flare-up. Some district foes played as many as four games in the final week of the regular season, making up postponed matchups. Dilworth did not mind not being one of them.
"Their legs are going to be tired coming into this tournament," he said.
