Winter Sports Preview
December 5, 2019
The PRCDHS winter sports season kicks off this weekend, with basketball games in Jordan, and a wrestling meet in Sidney. We caught up with the coaches to ascertain their thoughts on the teams, as the season kicks off.
Boys Basketball
Mike Richards returns to coach the HS Boys Basketball team this year. Last season, Richards got the team into fighting shape after a few really tough years, and though their record of 10-14 on the entire season might not have seemed like much to an outsider, those 10 wins were more than the previous few seasons combined.
Richards looks to improve the team’s record this season, and with most of his team returning after only losing two seniors to graduation last year, those chances look promising. The team has also been practicing over the summer - Richards had the team in the gym for three days of weekly practice, playing in 23 summer games.
“The time put in by the guys over the summer is really showing in our early season practices,” Richards commented during a recent interview.
The team this season consists of 11 high schoolers, with 10 eighth graders pulled up to play high school ball, and make a junior varsity team.
The Broadus boys look to test out their skills this Saturday, with their first game of the season at Jordan. Richards expects Broadus to compete well with Jordan, and looking at other teams around the conference, Melstone and Ekalaka are expected to be two of the teams to beat, according to Richards.
Assisting Mike as coaches this season are Dustin Lanke, Kristie Lanke, and Steve Graff.
Girls Basketball
The Girls basketball team kicks off their season this Saturday with a junior varsity game at Jordan. No varsity game will be played, as the schedule forces the Broadus Girls varsity to only play Jordan and Ekalaka once this season.
The Girls team has nine high school players this season, and will bring up 5 eighth graders. Despite the team lacking any juniors or seniors this season, Broadus has a surprising amount of experience for such a young team. This will be the third season of pulling 8th graders to play at the high school level, and some of the current sophomores will now be in their third season of high school playing time, with much of that experience at the varsity level.
Head Coach Kacey Stanley likes what she’s seen on the practice court so far this year, and with the addition of Jacy Collins as Assistant Coach, and Ashley Emmons as a volunteer coach, the Lady Hawk coaching staff brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the floor.
The Varsity team’s first test will come next weekend at the Lewistown tournament, where they are set to face the Lewistown JV squad, and Geraldine/ Highwood.
Stanley estimates Wibaux and Ekalaka to be the top teams in the conference this year, as both teams were stellar last season, and have retained the bulk of their starters. Further down in the conference, it’s anybody’s guess, and Broadus may match up well with teams like Jordan, per Stanley’s thoughts.
Wrestling
Eight Broadus athletes are currently out for High School Wrestling, including Sophomores Seth McDowell, Corbin Irish, Josiah Middle Rider, Dakota Holbrook, and Logan Rumph, Junior Jonathan Desatoff, and Seniors Ronnie Richards and Christian Middle Rider.
The bulk of the team has experience on the mat, and those with more experience have taken on leadership roles, helping to coach the new members.
We spoke with Coach Frankie Schoonover, who said the practice schedule has had a rocky start, with the storm last weekend forcing a cancelation of the Saturday practice. The team will now need to have two a day practices one day this week in order to make the required ten practices before a match. The team is also fighting some injuries sustained before the season, but Schoonover says those forms of adversity are just something to team will need to deal with in order to be competitive.
A positive thus far in the season is how the team is looking in practice, according to Schoonover. Both Dakota Holbrook and Corbin Irish competed in AAU matches since last wrestling season, and their extra work is paying off on the mat. The rest of the team is showing promise, and Schoonover will look to bring it all together this weekend in Sidney.
The first tournament of the season in Sidney is a large meet which brings in teams from multiple states and across Montana entered to compete.
Broadus will be entered in he Junior Varsity tournament, as Schoonover says the team’s general experience will be a lot better matched at the JV level, allowing them to compete and win some matches.
Next weekend, the team will travel to Glasgow, a change from previous years, where the team attended a tournament in Forsyth. Schoonover is excited about the change, as it allows Broadus to compete against other wrestlers from our division. In the past, Broadus might not wrestle against some of the division opponents until divisionals. Now, the team will see what they’re up against earlier in the season, allowing them to prioritize their training to better match up when it comes tournament time.
Schoonover wanted to give a shout out to Activities Director Mike Richards, for helping to implement the change, commenting that he’s been happy with the way Mike has taken the reins and run with the position.
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