By Jack Reaney SENIOR EDITOR
Moments into the boys’ senior night game, the Lone Peak High School gymnasium erupted in celebration of an unusual hero: senior Kael Gilbert nailed a 3-pointer to open the scoring against a Three Forks High School team ranked No. 4 in Montana Class B with a 14-1 record.
Gilbert, who admits his basketball background is limited since starting as a sophomore, said it feels great when coaches give him the opportunity to shoot in a meaningful game.
“It felt great. I don’t have a whole lot of opportunities to do that, at all. And it was really nice to see everybody show up,” Gilbert said after the Wolves earned a 59-43 victory.
The fact that he was starting was no coincidence—head coach Al Malinowski was sure to start all three seniors in their final home game—and the play was designed to get the ball in Gilbert’s hands.
“We ran a specific play to try to get him that shot, just hoping that he’d knock it down. When he’s set, he’s a good 3-point shooter,” Malinowski said. In two games against Three Forks, Gilbert is now two-for-three from beyond the arc.
Fellow senior Grady Towle followed up with a basket to extend the Big Horns’ lead to 5-0, and after a scoring run by the Wolves, senior Isaac Bedway tied the score at seven points—all three Big Horn seniors scored each of the team’s first three baskets.
“Kind of what you hope will happen when you give them their opportunity to get their start on senior night,” Malinowski said.
The game stayed close and became increasingly physical until halftime. Sophomore Ryan Malinowski made a pair of tough baskets and added a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to send the Big Horns to the locker room with a 26-23 lead. He’d finish with 11 points.
The Wolves surged in the third quarter, scoring seven unanswered points and eventually extending their lead to 39-30 as the Big Horns lost their rhythm for a stretch. By midway through the fourth, the Wolves led, 53-39 and burned the clock as the Big Horns scratched and clawed.
“We had a really good game, we couldn’t close it out really in the second half, but that is a team that has lost, I think, one game this year,” said Bedway, Tuesday’s team-leading scorer with 13 points. He said the team brought better energy than in their previous loss to the Wolves.
Three Forks sophomore Kanon Reichman and senior Drydan Frisinger used their size advantages to combine for 29 points in the Wolves’ win.
Coach Malinowski said the Wolves are big and experienced, with four seniors and one sophomore in their starting five as opposed to Lone Peak’s typical tip-off, featuring one senior, two juniors and two sophomores.
“So, we’re pretty young. And to watch our team battle, I thought we played much better defensively through most of that game than we did the last few games,” Malinowski said. “The one challenge was, their size and their depth kind of caught up to us in the second half.”
The Big Horns led narrowly at halftime in both games against the Wolves this season, but the second half has been more of a struggle. Still, the Wolves scored 84 against the Big Horns on Jan. 17, and this time the Big Horns held their district-leading opponent to 59 points.
“This time, we battled right to the end. I was really proud of that effort from our guys,” Malinowski said. “…We’re bummed that we lost but I’m incredibly proud of our effort.”
Gilbert said this year’s team has improved its composure, compared to last year when the young team often fell apart as opponents surged. “We’ve not given up, and it’s won us a lot of games,” he said.
Malinowski said depth continues to be the main area to improve—Three Forks exposed Lone Peak’s lopsided offense by pressuring Grabow, Bedway and Ryan Malinowski, who typically carry the scoring.
“We need contributions from other scorers… We need more situations where guys are taking advantage of other opportunities,” coach Malinowski said. Overall, he’s proud that in both matchups against a powerful team, the Big Horns have shown they can play with the Wolves. “We just need to find a way to continue that for 32 minutes, not just the first 16.”
The team will focus on its remaining games against Whitehall and Ennis, before shifting their attention to making some noise in the district tournament.
Girls celebrate a season of growth
Before the boys took the floor, the girls team played the Wolves tight at times. Still without a win this season, head coach Jessica Bedway was pleased with her team’s performance after falling 65-48.
“They’re just so much better than they were at the beginning of the year. And I hope they will continue to work so that we improve over the summer,” Bedway said, adding that in past years the team has taken steps back in the offseason, making for a rough start to recent seasons. “I really didn’t have huge expectations as far as wins, but I did have expectations about them learning and improving, and they definitely have done that.”
Bedway said the team will miss seniors Addy Malinowski and Anna Masonic.
Malinowski is “the quiet heart and soul” of the team, Bedway said. With her team trailing 13-7 in the first quarter, she hit back-to-back 3-pointers to tie the score and swing momentum. She scored 10 points in her final home game.
Masonic is “definitely the giver,” Bedway said, always caring for the team and asking how players and coaches are doing. She scored two points in the fourth quarter.
“Addy really has been a leader, and Anna really has been the support for everybody. And she’s always there,” Bedway said.
Addy Malinowski said she was proud of how her team played in their final home game.
“It’s really bittersweet. I’ve been playing here for so long, that it’s just sad to leave my team who I’ve been playing with since middle school,” Malinowski said. “… I just wanted to leave everything I could possibly give out on the court.”
She said this year, the team has grown and will only continue to become more competitive. “We’ve really come together this season, and hopefully they’ll continue that bond.”
Anna Masonic will remember this senior night game as the culmination of hard work and improvement as a team.
“The progress we’ve gotten since game one has been really cool… I think in the next few years we’re gonna start seeing incredible improvement as they start figuring out how to play in Class B,” Masonic said.
Junior Harper Morris led Tuesday’s scoring for the Big Horns with 21 points. Junior Maddie Wilcynski scored 11 in the loss.
Three Forks junior Maddy Tesoro scored 30 points, including seven 3-pointers—Bedway praised Tesoro’s dominance on the court.
“I was pleased. I was really pleased in the first half, and I was really pleased in the fourth quarter… The fact that they didn’t give up and they kept fighting until the fourth quarter, I was proud of them,” Bedway said.
The girls will play Whitehall on Saturday, Feb. 15, and Bedway is hopeful the Big Horns will show up and potentially win their first game of the season. They’ll face Ennis next week to wrap the season before heading to district tournament.
Masonic said anything can happen at the district tournament.
“I think we have a chance at districts,” she said. “It’s gonna be tough, but we’ll play hard.”
