MISSOULA – The crosstown rivalry between Missoula Sentinel and Missoula Big Sky is legendary. From the gridiron to the basketball court, these athletes always give 110 percent.
Before the long winter break, Sentinel’s girls lost to Bozeman. But after weeks of rumination and practice, they came back with a vengeance Saturday, scoring 90 points in their win over Big Sky.
“I think the fact that everybody contributed will help us build, because we know that, ‘Hey, no matter if you’re having a good game or not, we’ve got people who can step up and fill those shoes,'” said Sentinel head coach Karen Deden. “And I just think that the leadership that Kylie (Frohlich) and Jordyn (Schweyen) bring, they allow the team to grow.”
That growth, Deden says, comes from self-discovery. She explained that during the break, the team spoke about finding an identity, both as individual players and as a team.
That self-discovery seems to have sparked something during Saturday’s game: The Spartan girls came away with 90 points, a feat that surprised even themselves.
After that colossal win, the Spartans say they’re setting their sights on a state title.
“I definitely think we’re going to be pretty confident going in, but we did have a loss this season,” Frohlich said. “That just means that every team is going to bring us their hardest game, so we can’t take any games off and we just have to be prepared.”
Deden says the girls still have some work to do defensively, but she shares the team’s confidence moving forward.
