MORE THAN MINUTES

When Brandy Lambourne walked off the floor of the Four Seasons Arena in Great Falls following her last high school basketball game, she did so with about as much glory and success as a high school player from Havre could ever hope for.

On that March night in 2014, she'd just helped the Havre Blue Ponies win their first girls Class A state championship in 17 years, she'd led the tournament in scoring, and she'd go on to be named the Class A State Tournament Most Valuable Player, and Class A All-State for a second straight year.

That night, she also knew she was headed to play college basketball for hometown Montana State University-Northern in just a few months. For an individual basketball player, times couldn't have been better.

However, what Lambourne didn't know at the time was, all of that glory, all of that triumph as a player that she felt that night in Great Falls, it would be a long time before she was truly able to get back to that kind of success on the hardwood.

Almost five years to be exact.

Lambourne, now a senior point guard and captain for the Skylights is finally tasting that high-level success again, but it has been a long time in the making. While she's averaging 12 points and a whopping 38 minutes a night for the Skylights in her final season at Northern, the journey to get there has been one of waiting, of frustration, of patience and learning.

That's because, for the first three seasons of her Northern career, Lambourne mostly watched, as three loaded Northern teams went on runs to the NAIA national tournaments with veteran point guards in Taylor Cummings and Molly Kreycik.

During that run, Lambourne was certainly a player. She didn't red-shirt and she played in 70 games in her first three seasons. But in actuality, with so many standouts in front of her, minutes were hard to come by, and after such a brilliant career with head coach Dustin Kraske and the Havre Blue Ponies, it wasn't easy.

"It was frustrating," Lambourne admitted. "It's hard not to have much playing time because that's what you want as a competitor. But at the same time, I knew I was playing behind two great point guards in Taylor and Molly, so I got a chance to learn so much from them. Being behind them made me better. They pushed me every day to get better."

Lambourne, who has always been a top student, chose not to red-shirt as a freshman for the Skylights, in pursuit of a degree in biology, which she will obtain this spring. That meant, she would likely only have her senior year to be the point guard of the Skylights, given how far along Kreycik already was when she took over the point guard duties from Cummings when Lambourne was a sophomore.

So again, minutes were sparse.

But, two things head coach Chris Mouat said were not sparse during Lambourne's first three years as a Skylight were her positive attitude and her contributions to three of the best Skylight teams ever, in spite of the limited action she was seeing on the floor.

"It was a waiting game for Brandy," Mouat said. "Playing time for her would kind of come and go. And I wasn't unaware of her frustrations. I understood them. But the reality is when she was a freshman, we don't beat Dickinson State that year without Brandy. There's a lot of things we wouldn't have done without her. She has also been a major part of this team the last four years, no matter what the minutes were. When you're doing the things we were doing the last three years, she probably didn't get as much time as even I would have liked to see her get. But she always waited her turn and any time that turn came, she also stepped up and took advantage of it.

"The constant through all of that was Brandy's attitude," Mouat added. "It never changed. It was always positive, it was also team-first. Her approach to our program, on and off the floor was as vital to us as a freshman as it is now. I'll always admire and be thankful for Brandy's attitude and her perseverance. It's remarkable."

Team, that indeed has been what it's always been about for Lambourne - in true point guard fashion.

As an individual player, times weren't easy her first three seasons, playing at some points, less than five minutes per game, and averaging just 2.2 ppg through her junior year. And yet, she was part of a Skylight dynasty, appearing in two Frontier Conference championship games and two NAIA Sweet 16s along the way.

"Even though it was frustrating to not be playing as much," she said. "I wanted to be a good teammate. I knew I was still part of the success we were having. I knew, while they were helping me get better, I was helping them (Cummings, Kreycik) get better, too. So that was important to me, that I did whatever I could to help our team. And that made it all worth it for me."

It had to be worth it considering the heights the Skylights have been reaching during Lambourne's time at Northern. And it was also worth it considering that she was doing it in her hometown, in front of her family, every night the last four years. That's something else that has meant a lot to her, in good times and tough times.

"That has been great," Lambourne said, "to have my family here to see me play every home game. They've been through it all with me. Every season, it's just been really special to me."

Now it's Lambourne's last season as a Skylight, and while Northern, riddled with injuries, has gone through tough stretches this winter, Lambourne is having the senior year she dreamed of and has worked so hard for. She's the point guard and floor general for the Skylights.

And she didn't just wait for her turn to do it, she worked her butt off to ensure she was ready to do it.

"I made sure I learned everything I could from the girls above me," she said. "Taylor and Molly, I wanted to pattern myself after them as much as I could. I've just been blessed to play with so many great players, I wanted to learn as much as I could from them. I really took all that in. And all of them helped me a lot. And I worked hard in the summers, but especially this last summer. I was in the gym and the weight room working really hard."

Another thing Lambourne didn't do was give up. Sitting on the bench, watching other players achieve the things she wanted to achieve wasn't easy. Players with lesser internal strength may have decided to move on. Lambourne didn't do that, never considered doing it, and instead, did what leaders, role models and competitors do, she kept going.

"I was frustrated, but no, I never thought about that," Lambourne said of maybe giving up on college basketball. "I look back on it now, and I realize, I wasn't ready when I came out of high school. I had to learn and grow. And now, I can say I'm really proud of the work and the time I put in to it because it's paying off for me now.

"Brandy has really grown up in our program," Mouat added. "She's had some bigtime ups, great moments, in every season she's been with us, and she's had hard times, too. But she's never wavered. She's always had a great attitude and always been a great teammate, and now she's developed into the leader of our team. And through it all, she's done it with no hesitation, with no complaints, and with an incredibly positive attitude. I'm very, very proud of her for that."

Mouat is also proud of the player Lambourne has become. She's averaging 12 points per game, which is sixth-best in the Frontier this season. She has a season-high of 30, while averaging 4.5 assists and racking up 26 steals so far. In other words, she's putting together an All-Conference type season, which again, shows how much her attitude and determination has paid off in the end.

"Her progress to this year has been so much fun to watch," Mouat said. "I know it wasn't always easy for her, but to see the player she's become, I'm so proud of her. She's worked for everything she's gotten. She's developed into a player that's scoring double figures in the Frontier Conference, she runs the show for us, she leads us on and off the floor. She's really earned it, and I'm proud of her.

"And through it all, she's never changed," he continued. "She's always set a great example of what it means to be a student-athlete in our program. She's always done it the right way. She's worked hard, she's a great teammate, she's a leader, she's great in the classroom, she's highly respected all across campus and in this community. She's just a high-quality person, a great person, and for me personally, she's going to leave a big hole when she's not around here anymore. I'm really going to miss her. She's meant an awful lot to me."

And the Skylights have meant an awful lot to Lambourne. Sure, there's been plenty of tough times. Sure, the individual glory was something she had to wait a long time for. Sure, the personal achievements didn't come fast and furious like they did in her days as a Blue Pony. But Lambourne being the person she is and the basketball player every coach could only dream of having on his or her team, the personal glory wasn't what she was ever seeking at Northern anyway.

No, the things that are closest to Lambourne's heart now, they're much deeper than points, assists, or awards.

"It's been an amazing experience, ups and downs," Lambourne said. "I felt all the emotions of everything we've done as a team these last four years. There are so many things that I'll remember more than the minutes. The memories and moments I've created with my teammates and coaches, that's the most important thing to me. All the special things we've done together these last four years. That's what I'm going to remember and cherish. That's what makes this experience so special, and it has been really special to me."

Special is a two-way street, too, and Lambourne has proven that. Lambourne's legacy at Northern is already complete, and it's one that includes one of the great life lessons in sports: Hard work, sacrifice and dedication will pay off. She did that in her four years at Northern, and the Skylight program will always be better for having Lambourne and her incredible attitude in it.

"I wouldn't trade this for anything," she said. "No regrets at all. It's been an amazing experience, and a lot of fun, and I'm really going to miss it when it's all over. I'm going to miss being a Skylight for sure."