BOZEMAN — Bozeman Gallatin is set to host Bozeman High girls basketball for a crosstown showdown at 7 p.m. on Friday night.
"It’s one of my favorite games," Bozeman senior guard Avrielle Koelzer said. "I think it’s like that energy you feel in the gym is like so intense, and yeah. It’s one of my favorite games, I would say."
For sophomore guard Jada Davis of Gallatin, hosting crosstown provides a special feel for the home team.
"Definitely the student section, being able to get the momentum," Davis said as her favorite part of the game. "The atmosphere around it is so fun, you know. Getting a big shot, the crowd goes wild. So, it’s just a fun atmosphere to be around."
This is Taylor Cummings first crosstown game as Gallatin's head coach, but she has been apart of the rivalry already. Before moving over to the Raptors she coached under Bozeman head coach Kati Mobley.
"I have so much respect for coach Mobley and all those girls with that program," Cummings said. "And knowing going into it, we are competitive. She’s competitive, I’m competitive, and we’re going to give it everything we’ve got. But, it’s also nice to have that relationship, and that we also too, hopefully step away with that respect."
Bozeman is chasing their first win of the season against Gallatin and know what will be key to go in to Gallatin to get the win.
"We just need to make sure we take care of the ball," Mobley said, "we defend well, we turn them over a little bit and put the ball in the bucket."
"We’re working on starting off our game strong, staying focused, having game intelligence is really important for us right now," Koelzer said.
Gallatin has started to really mesh with the new leadership, and it’s reflected in capturing their first program win over Billings West last week.
They hope to bring the momentum from the way they opened conference play into this crosstown game.
"I think we’re definitely more comfortable with each other now, especially with the new coaching staff and stuff," Gallatin junior guard Emma Hardman said. "We’ve been playing really well together, and I think just keeping that up."
"Just being able to play as a team, work on some fundamentals like offense, defense," Davis said. "Being able to come through and keep the momentum like last week, you know, so, just be able to play our game, have fun, just go out there and show them what we got."
