GREAT FALLS — After facing a deficit as big as 14 points in this past Saturday's Class C state basketball championship, the girls of Denton-Geyser-Stanford Geraldine didn't fret.
It took overtime, but the Bearcats capped off a perfect 27-0 season with a 64-57 win over Circle, marking the first state title for the co-op.
"Building up to this moment, it was just too big of a moment to just quit and lay down and let them have this," junior BriElla Becker said Saturday at Dahlberg Arena in Missoula following the win. "We just talked about how we've worked for this all season long and this is exactly what we've dreamed of. So, I mean, when you got to step up, you got to step up. And, I mean, my team did it, so it was just amazing."
WATCH THE VIDEO:
Becker delivered in a 19-point, 13-rebound double-double in the win to lead the comeback charge. But to complement her, freshman Kady Myllymaki and eighth grader Keira Tesarek combined for 31 points.
"It feels pretty crazy, it's still kind of shocking," Myllymaki said. "We didn't know what it was like to lose this year, but we definitely know what it was like to get down and have our bad moments. But we knew we just needed to come together and work together when we were down, and we just are a good team and fought to the end and pulled together and relied on each other."
"It's pretty special, we're all like really good friends and it's just a lot of fun," Tesarek said. "Our shots weren't really falling too well and I think we were kind of getting down on ourselves. But the second half we got a lot better and started believing in each other."
This is a redemption title for the Bearcats, as in November Circle topped them in the Class C volleyball championship. Additionally, D-G-S-G also fell in the state basketball semifinals last winter.
"Knowing that (the Wildcats) know what it's like to win just as much as we do, that definitely factored it," Becker said. "They're just a great team, so you just got to come into a game like this knowing that you got to be ready to work."
Before this title for D-G-S-G, Geraldine had been the only school to win a state championship. Becker said that served as a motivator for the Bearcats.
"Every time we walk into practice we look up at those banners and see that there's no state title up there and that's what we've worked for," Becker said. "I think just being able to do it for not just one school — all four of us — so we've all worked so hard I think is just super special."
