BILLINGS — The drought in Hardin is over.
Now it’s only been two seasons that the Bulldog girls have been absent from the Class A state basketball tournament, but Hardin was ready to wipe that from its memory.
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“Especially not goingg to state for two years, that definitely pushes us to work harder this year and get further than we did the past two years," guard Zoey Real Bird said.
Hardin finished third this past weekend at the Eastern A divisional tournament, but coach Cindy Farmer and Co. at times are still battling their biggest nemesis — themselves.
“Our defense is what's going to get us where we want to go," Farmer said. "At times we play 16 minutes of excellent defense and things are rolling, then boom. Four minutes, five minutes or whatever. That's been our goal the whole year, is to maintain that consistency for four quarters."
It’s a fairly young team that’s in pursuit of consistent performances, but it's been able to build a good amount of trust through the years that’s paying off now.
“I've seen that these girls wanted it more, and you can even see it at practice. We push each other constantly. We just click. Since I've been playing basketball I haven't had a team that just clicks like that, but our girls ... we click," Taylor Slater said.
"If you believe and have confidence in yourself and your teammates, in life and everything you're going to be able to achieve what you set out to accomplish," Farmer said.
Hardin will open the Class A state tournament on March 12 at noon.
