Three varsity home games remain for Lone Peak High School
By Jack Reaney ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Unlike 2023, Lone Peak High School likely won’t have both of its varsity basketball teams vying for a state tournament berth. Ask coaches and players and you’ll learn that’s not their focus—it’s about growth and stepping up to a challenge.
Lone Peak basketball moved up from Class C for this season, and now faces opponents with almost three times the school’s enrollment, in some cases. The Class B debut season is nearing the finish line, with the regular season conclusion scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 10, as the Big Horns celebrate senior night at home. Then it’s off to the double-elimination district 5B tournament, for which all teams qualify.
Senior Samantha Ayers, student-manager for both teams, summed up the story: Class B takes a lot more work, and the programs are more focused than ever on developing younger players. On the girls’ side, even with Class B’s challenges, the Big Horns have won a few games this season.
“Class B is as advertised… I’m proud of the girls for the way they’ve fought in this new environment,” said head coach John McGuire, pointing out that some schools are making cuts at two or three high school levels. It would not serve Lone Peak to be cutting players.
Speaking to EBS before hosting Three Forks High School on Friday, Jan. 26, McGuire highlighted team leadership from seniors Astrid McGuire and Vera Grabow. Overall, it’s an exceptionally young team—two seniors, two juniors, and 11 combined freshmen and sophomores.
He commended Grabow on her recovery from an ankle injury in July, and her return to an impactful role.
Grabow said Class B is definitely challenging with a new realm of opponents, but the goal is to stay positive. Even with a lot of young players with little or no basketball experience, they’ve worked hard every day. “Props to them,” she said.
“I think our growth from the beginning of the season onwards… It’s gone a lot better,” she said.
Astrid McGuire is averaging more than 11 points per game, good for sixth in district 5B as of Jan. 26. Coach McGuire said she plays an indispensable role on the young team.
“Going into the season we knew that Class B was going to be really hard. But it’s been really fun to grow together,” Astrid said. In many games, she sees her team playing well to start, but lacking the depth to keep up with tough opponents.
With the team’s young core, coach McGuire is pleased with the individual and team growth. He commended their enduring chemistry—nothing builds chemistry like winning, he said, and wins have been hard to come by.
“Every single player is a better basketball player,” he said. Sophomores Harper Morris and Maddie Wilcynski will step up and lead in years to come, and junior Addy Malinowski has rounded out the team’s starting five.
“They’ve really stepped up, they always work really hard in practice,” Astrid said.
Coach McGuire also rattled through up-and-coming talent: sophomores Cate Leydig, Poppy Towle, Taran Gilbert and freshmen Sophie Kendrick and Catherine Coltea are splitting time between the varsity and JV squads. Next year’s team will be stronger with a healthy Anna Masonic, a current junior.
Astrid’s priority this season is to lead the girls so they’re excited to keep playing and they improve. That’s the biggest thing the team can do right now, she said.
Coach McGuire also showered praise upon his assistant coaches, Jessica Bedway and Christine Toy. With strong roster depth in years to come, McGuire sees potential especially with support of his experienced coaching staff.
Astrid said it’s been a joy to see her dad step into the head coaching role this season. Even though “basketball is not his forte… he’s doing a great job and he’s made it really fun,” she said. His strength is his passion in everything he does, she said, and he’s learning the game.
“The girls are getting excellent reps against some strong competition, all across southwest Montana… And we surprise a lot of teams,” coach McGuire said. “It’s been a very, very positive year.”
On senior night against Whitehall, the Big Horns should be able to compete.
“I think using all the motivation from previous games to actually follow through and win that game would be very good,” Astrid McGuire said.
Grabow also sees upside.
“We’re looking forward to finishing the season on a strong note, maybe get a few wins,” she said.
Boys finding their stride
The Big Horn boys had a strong start to the season, with three wins against Class C opponents on their way to a 5-3 overall record. Six losses followed, with a lot of learning and trial by fire for younger players.
Head coach Al Malinowski is optimistic. He is proud of his team’s progression toward cohesive defense, chemistry and confidence between teammates of varying experience, and balance across the offense—that’s a need, because 60% of all points are being scored by junior Isaac Bedway and sophomore Ebe Grabow. If the Big Horns can continue pushing forward and minimizing mistakes, Malinowski thinks they could surprise some opponents in the remaining four regular season games, and perhaps the district tournament.
Class B opponents are generally bigger, faster and stronger. With larger rosters, opponents have a greater number of physically developed players.
“It’s been a good experience in that we know we have the talent to compete, but one of our challenges is our depth,” Malinowski said. “When you get into several road games in a row, or back-to-back games… you can see the fatigue in some of our players.”
Senior Juliusz Shipman said Class B basketball is more aggressive. “I don’t think they’re necessarily way better at basketball, they’re just kind of more physical. I think that’s something that’s pretty hard to adapt to, because we’re a young team, too,” Shipman said before facing Three Forks on Jan. 26.
Malinowski said the amount of experience for younger players will only help build the program in future years. Plus, the younger players will continue to physically develop, helping match up to some big opponents.
Unlike last year’s team, which knew its leaders from the start, this year has come with open roles for younger players to fill. Freshmen Ryan Malinowski and Miles Romney are punching above their weight. Sophomore Oliver McGuire has made an impact since his mid-season return from studying abroad, and senior Aidan Germain has settled in after a season away from basketball.
While coach Malinowski said the team’s search for identity has been a roller coaster, the losses are becoming narrower. And last year, narrow losses were valuable experiences that helped the Big Horns earn narrow playoff wins and a state tournament berth, he noted.
Now, the team is playing fewer games with massive scoring deficits, and more where a loss can be attributed to a small handful of specific miscues. Against a highly-ranked Three Forks team on Jan. 26, the Big Horns trailed by four at halftime and lost, 47-33. With better shooting, Malinowski said it could have ended a lot closer.
“You keep the game a little bit tighter. And the last few games, our boys have played with a little more grit, and more effort and are really battling,” he said.
In the upcoming district tournament, the top three of seven teams will advance to the Class B divisional tournament. “We certainly have to beat someone that we haven’t, but we have experience doing that in the past,” Malinowski said. He’s seen enough confidence from his team to believe they could win in the playoffs, but they’ll need to execute on details.
Ebe Grabow sees that as an advantage of Class B—developing team and individual skills against better competition. As a sophomore, he’s learning to capitalize on opportunities when given, and leading the team with about 16 points per game.
“It’s a new experience for sure, but we just gotta take our time and adjust. It’s a different game, faster paced, and we just gotta change, adapt to it,” Grabow said.
To win on senior night against Whitehall on Feb. 10, coach Malinowski said the team will need to knock down shots. When they faced off earlier in the season, it was a sloppy game for the Big Horns. They’ll look for redemption in front of a home crowd.
