With the winter season of high school sports competitions kicking off this weekend, we spoke with the head coaches to see what lies ahead for the boys and girls basketball and wrestling teams. The basketball teams will begin their seasons this Friday in Miles City at the Shamrock Classic, a tournament at Sacred Heart School featuring varsity and JV teams from Broadus, Circle, Jordan, and Savage, as well as JV teams from Ekalaka.
Times for those games are listed in the community calendar. Broadus Boys Coach Mike Richards encourages fans to attend the games in person, as the event is a fundraiser for Sacred Heart and the more folks who attend, the more likely the school will be to continue the event in the future. Additionally the games from Sacred Heart will not be broadcast on the NFHS Network, so if folks want to watch they have to attend. Games will be played on Friday and Saturday.
The Hawk Wrestling season begins this Friday with a tournament in Sidney, featuring competitors from powerhouse schools across Montana including Bozeman, several Billings teams, competitors from all levels from the east side of the state, and teams as far flung as Illinois, Ohio, Washington, and Nebraska.
Boys Basketball
Broadus Boys Head Coach Mike Richards took the team to state last season, winning the district championship along the way. This season, Mike is looking to repeat last year’s success, while pushing the Hawks to new heights at the State level, where they lost two straight games last March.
The Hawks return two all-star players to the court, and their starting lineup this season will look familiar to fans, as no seniors graduated from the varsity squad last spring.
Coach Richards plans to start six players, rotating the line-up night to night. Those players include 2021 all star 6’4” Junior Foward Dillon Gee and Marcus Mader, 6’ 0” Junior Guard, as well as 2021 all conference player Johnny Richards, a 5’11” Senior Guard, 6’3” Senior Forward Wyatt Gee, and 5’8” Junior Guard Solomon Bradley. This season the team will add 6’3” Junior Forward Tytan Hanson to the starting lineup. Tytan dominated the court last season for the Hawk JV squad, but was unable to play for the Hawk varsity squad due to transferring in from St. Labre. Hanson’s muscular physical stature will likely prove to be an asset to the team, as the Hawks often struggled against more physical teams last season.
Other members of the Hawk team include 5’5” Sophomore Guard Eli Heacock, 5’7” Sophomore Guard Josh Rasmussen, 6’2” Sophomore Forward Matt Hansen, 6’0” Sophomore Guard Cooper Zimmer, 6’3” Sophomore Forward Jaxon Bilbrey, 6’0” Sophomore Forward Landen Capp, 5’9” Freshman Guard Zach Jones, 6’3” Junior Forward Ezra Gotfredson, and Sophomore Forward Brandon Rogers, whose height was unlisted.
Joining Richards in coaching are assistant coaches Dustin and Kristie Lanke, while Lea Aye and Aidan Kenelly will serve as student assistants.
We asked Richards about how the competition looked at the conference level this season; he replied that Melstone will be a fierce competitor, while Terry was a big unknown as they have a number of foreign exchange students on the team. Broadus is likely to be well equipped to handle the rest of the conference if the Hawks play at the level they are capable, as they set their sights ahead to the season.
Girls Basketball
With a roster of returning starters, Broadus Girls Basketball Head Coach Ashley Emmons started the practices this season with a team familiar with her coaching style, which wasn’t the case last year when she returned to coaching basketball after a break of several years.
“These past few weeks of practice have been very encouraging,” she commented. “The team knows my expectations and we’re all familiar with where we need to be as a team.”
With 15 players on the roster, Emmons plans to rotate players through the lineup to make sure each players has six quarters of play per night, whether at the JV or varsity games, assuring maximum experience for the players. The final roster of starters was not yet set for the first games of the season when we spoke with Ashley.
Last season the Lady Hawks finished their season at the District tourney, and Emmons’ goal this year is to finish the season better than last year. “We have a chance to play with the best,” she commented.
Broadus will face a tough Melstone team this season, while Jordan, Ekalaka, and Wibaux will also be in the hunt with Broadus to see who is able to attain that next level of play.
Junior Abi Krantz returns to the team this season after last year’s all star performance, while Mia Mader, Sophomore, returns from her all conference season. Others on the team include Juniors Olivia Schaffer, Lucinda Cain, and Lauryn Billing, Sophomores Emma Isaacs, Zeason Schaffer, Rheanna Schroeder, Ciara McDowell, Aspen Krantz, and Taylor Hanson, Senior Lacey Robinson, and Freshmen Maddie Zimmer, Kendal Stanley, and Shyla Madsen.
Assisting Emmons with coaching duties are Lee Turnbough and Monica Smith. The team is managed by Maggie Mader.
Several Lady Hawks are battling through injuries sustained earlier in the year as they head into their first games, but overall the team is healthy and ready to play.
Wrestling
“This is the first season in my nine years of coaching that we’ve been able to have enough kids for a dual at Sidney,” Broadus Head Coach Frankie Schoonover beamed as he described the 13 member strong wrestling team that will take the mat this season - an increase in wrestlers over years past.
Senior Hawk Dakota Holbrook, returning from last year’s sixth place at state will help to lead the team, with four new wrestlers amongst a group of returning, battle hardened competitors.
Returning Hawk Wrestlers include Raiden Aurand, Seth McDowell, Corbin Irish, Riggin Schaffer, Alex Edwards, Cale Emmons, and Josiah Middle Rider. New wrestlers for the Hawks include Isaiah McMullan, Kail Irish, Archer Edwards, Kolton Williams, and Duke Blankenship.
Assisting the team as managers are Becca Aye, Jolie Blakeman, and Rachel Rasmussen.
Schoonover told us the team has been going hard in practice, and they’re ready
Additionally, AAU Wrestling is taking place this season, with sign-ups on Friday, December 3rd at 5:30 PM in the auditorium. Kids ages 4 through junior high are able to compete, and those interested should contact Garrett Goggin or Jim Kolka for more information.
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