MISSOULA — Last Saturday at Dahlberg Arena, the Scobey boys basketball team completed what the Spartans had started six years earlier.
The last time the Class C state tournaments were in Missoula in 2020, the Spartans won a semifinal game to advance to the state championship. But that team never got to play for a title, instead sharing first place with Eastern C rival Fairview when the COVID-19 pandemic halted the tournament after Friday night's semifinal round.
But there was no slowing down the 2026 Spartans — who featured five younger brothers of players on that 2020 team — on their championship quest once they started play in the state bracket.
"It's the heart of a champion, these guys are winners," coach Jason Wolfe said. "They've been winners their whole lives."
HEAR FROM THE 2026 STATE-CHAMPION SPARTANS:
The parallels to that 2020 state tournament would seem uncanny if they weren't so fitting. In 2020, Fairview reached the championship game by defeating a team from the Southern C in the first round and one from the Northern C in the semis; Scobey made it by beating a team from the North and one from the West.
This year: Scobey reached the title game by defeating Winnett-Grass Range of the Southern C and Belt of the North. Lustre Christian made it by beating Chester-Joplin-Inverness from the North and Manhattan Christian from the West.
The same paths with similarly dominant eastern Montana rivals.
"It's awesome, and it's really a testament, I think, to just this district," Scobey senior Cooper Axtman said of the Spartans' title-game matchup with District 3C rival Lustre Christian. "Our district is so strong, and it's just awesome to have both of us in the state championship. We know each other so well, we're all close, good friends, and it's fun to play against them."
"We played them five times last year, four times this year," Scobey coach Jason Wolfe said. "There's no secrets. I mean, we know what each other has, we know what each other's going to do. It's just a matter of who's going to execute, who's going to play with the most energy, and I think that was us (Saturday).”
Photos: Championship Saturday at State C basketball tournament
Of the four meetings this season, Scobey won three — the Spartans' lone loss of the season coming against the Lions in the Eastern C divisional championship game. Prior to that loss in Miles City, Scobey had won seven consecutive games over the Lions — the two regular-season meetings this year and all five matchups last season.
"You know, that (divisional championship loss) galvanized this group," Wolfe said. "We didn't expect to lose, but a divisional championship wasn't the goal. The state championship was. We put a focus on that, and these guys bounced back and they're state champions."
It's a joy that 2020 team never really got to experience. Yes, history remembers those Spartans as state champions — and they did go on to win the 2021 state title — but there was always an incompleteness to the 2020 tournament.
These 2026 Spartans finally got to write the ending to the chapters the 2020 team started, with Bram Handran, Evan Tande (who missed the state tournament with an injury), Reese Tande, Kolten Machart and Cam Cromwell helping finish what their older brothers — Caden Handran, Jayce Tande, Reagan Machart and Parker Cromwell — helped start.
"It was kind of surreal being back in this venue where we kind of got shut down during COVID," Caden Handran said last Wednesday after the Spartans defeated Winnett-Grass Range 71-45 in the first round.
Related: Scobey's Bram Handran giving déjà vu to Class C state tournament fans
The Spartans were even more dominant in the semifinal round, blitzing Belt 78-40.
In Saturday's championship game, the second quarter proved to be the difference, as Scobey built a double-digit halftime lead and then pulled away for the 56-39 championship win.
Bram Handran and Axtman had MVP-caliber performances — Handran finished with eight points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists and four steals, while Axtman scored a game-high 14 points and made four 3-pointers — but this was a team win, with significant contributions coming from up and down the roster.
"I wouldn't want any other teammates in the world, man," Bram Handran said. "They know where to go, and they sometimes bail me out with making tough shots when I pass it to them, so it's special."
Making the title even sweeter is pairing it with last November's 8-Man football championship.
"It's been crazy," said Axtman, who will play college football at Dickinson State. "We knew we had the athletes and the people and the brotherhood and the family to go and get it done in everything that we participate in. It's just surreal to get these two. It's awesome."
Added Bram Handran: "It's been everything. I mean, we're all brothers, and we all hang out together. And just to win them both and to bring them back to Scobey, it was just something special. It hasn't been done for a while, so it's awesome."
