George Ferguson Column: Plenty of memories from winter

Spring is in the air. Kind of. And while I'm not fooled into thinking old man winter won't return at some point over the next few weeks, or even the next two months, the fact is the days are getting longer and warmer.

And for me, that doesn't just spell the beginning of tennis season, or the spring sports season in general, or even a chance to dust off the golf clubs, it also means it's time to put the winter sports season in my rear view mirror.

George Ferguson

Spors Editor

Reflection is a good thing though, and when I reflect on the winter sports season, I can't help but think what a great one it was.

Basketball takes front and center from December to March around these parts, and it was indeed a great basketball season. But no one can argue with the wrestling success our coverage saw this year.

The Havre Blue Ponies romped to the Class A championship back in February, and with the title, proved they are indeed the premier wrestling dynasty in Class A. Yes, Sidney has been strong too, but no one can compare to the consistency the Ponies have had on the mat over the last decade. Havre hasn't finished out of the trophy hunt now for more years than me memory will allow me to call, and few wrestling programs in Montana even measure up.

The Hi-Line itself has become a wrestling hotbed. Chinook and Harlem thrive in the B-C ranks with limited numbers, while this year, individuals from Big Sandy and Chester/J-I also made headlines.

And then there's the Montana State University-Northern Lights. What a season they had. Northern essentially completed the re-birth of its program as head coach Tyson Thivierge guided the Lights to a stellar third-place finish at the NAIA national tournament earlier this month in Des Moines, Iowa. This was a season for the ages for the Lights, and as I've said many times before, with Thivierge at the helm, it's only going to get better and better.

And while wrestlers all over the Hi-Line shined this winter, basketball did too.

It was another great year for the MSU-Northern men – another trip to the national tournament, and the Lights stayed in contention for the Frontier title right to the end. That's becoming par for the course for the Lights these days. The MSU-N women had plenty of magic too. The Skylights battled all year long and wound up clinching a home playoff game, a game they wound up winning, and made their second straight trip to the Frontier semifinals. The job that both coach Shawn Huse and women's head coach Chris Mouat did this season cannot be overlooked.

There was plenty to cheer about on the high school level too.

The Havre High girls team won another Central A title and a game at the Class A state tournament. The Big Sandy boys came all the way back from a first-round loss at the Northern C Divisional to reach the Class C state semifinals. And that's after the Pioneers had to challenge just to get out of the 9C.

The Rocky Boy Stars and Box Elder Bears both won conference championships in boys basketball this season, while the Chinook Sugarbeeters won a girls 9C title and the North Star Knights and Chester/J-I Hawks both made thrilling runs at the Northern C girls tournament in Great Falls.

The individuals stood out too. Freshmen like Havre's Dane Warp and Box Elder's Brandon The Boy were thrilling to watch, as was Big Sandy senior Trevor Lackner, Rocky Boy's junior Day Child, Box Elder's Randall Gardipee, Chinook's Makhayla Farmer, the entire Havre girls team and so many more. All in all, it was a truly amazing winter of basketball in these parts.

And when you throw in programs like the Havre High swim teams and Havre Ice Hawks hockey, it makes the dark, cold and snowy winter go by pretty darn fast. It did for me.

And now it's over. Now the last four months are memories, but they are great memories. The Hi-Line is chalked full of great athletics year round, and the winter season is no exception. It's a long way to December, but with all of the great memories we've seen over the last winter sports season, the next one will be here in no time.