DRUMMOND — If one's curious about the toughness of the Drummond girls basketball team, they need look no further than Remington Cline’s nose.
"I did get hit once, it hurt pretty bad. But it's all good inside," said Cline, sporting a large bandage on her nose at a recent practice.
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The junior broke her nose in the Trojans' District 13C championship win over Seeley-Swan and then played in the Western C divisional tournament two weeks ago. She got it mended last week as the Trojans prepare for their first trip to the state tournament in 13 years.
"She's just a train wreck," Charlee Cline, Remington's twin sister, said with a laugh. "I mean, she's still playing hard, practicing hard. ... She's got a high pain tolerance, she'll do well.”
The twins are back sharing the court in Drummond after Remington missed last season with an injury.
“Being able to play with each other is a big deal, and I think we understand each other on the court, so it's cool to see us put it together,” Remington Cline said.
Remington’s return has been a boon for the Trojans, but this trip to state started last year. The Trojans got out to a slow start last season and lost seven of their first eight games. They won 11 of their next 12, including three straight at the district tournament to win the conference crown.
Drummond won its first game at the 2025 Western C divisional tournament but lost the next two to end its season.
“Having that motivation from last year really helped coming into the season, like, yeah, we can make it there, we can go far," Charlee Cline said. "We just got to believe it.”
And the key this season has been defense.
According to coach Levi Parsons, the 23-0 Trojans are giving up just 21 points per game. They have a 57-0 win over Noxon on their resume and have allowed more than 35 points just once — to West Yellowstone in the Western C divisional championship game on Feb. 28.
“It definitely, I would say, gets us going," Drummond senior Kimber Parsons said of the Trojans' defense. "Like, if we are struggling and we get a steal or something like that, like our whole team gets really excited, so it just like brings the energy up and it gets us rolling.”
Added Remington Cline: "(Defense) has been our main thing, and I think that's helped us a lot. And every single game we go in strong on defense, and that helps our offense, and I think that's why we're where we are today.”
Next, Drummond will face Melstone in a first-round game at 5 p.m. Thursday at the Class C state tournament at Dahlberg Arena in Missoula.
It'll be a long time coming for the Trojans, who went 1-2 in their last state appearance in 2013. Melstone is making its third consecutive trip to state. Denton-Geyser-Stanford-Geraldine, Scobey and West Yellowstone are also back in the state field for the second straight season.
“I think our biggest challenge will be a lot of the teams we're going to see there have been at the state tournament before in like recent years," said Kimber Parsons, the coach's daughter. "We haven't ever been at that big of a tournament, so I think that'll be the only thing that really bothers us.”
“Oh yeah, I feel like we're definitely going to be nervous," added Charlee. "We're definitely going to be excited, but I think we're going to go out there and try our best, work hard and see what we can do.”
