Skylight Summer League making a splash

A couple of years ago, Montana State University-Northern men's basketball coach Shawn Huse had a great idea. His idea was a summer league for high school players, hosted by Huse and MSU-N.

The idea turned out to be a rousing success and because of it Chris Mouat and the MSU-Northern Skylights decided to create their own summer league, one for local high school girls basketball players, which is held Wednesday nights at the Havre Central gymnasium.

Mouat, the head coach of the Skylights, is in the second year of hosting the Skylights summer league and so far, he said, it has been highly successful.

"It was Shawn's idea," Mouat said, referring to Huse, "but we took it and ran with it. Last year, we got a turnout that was better than expected. And this year, we are really happy again with our turnout, especially among the high school kids."

The high school level generally features players that have just completed their eighth-grade season and will be freshmen during the next school year.

One of those players is Havre's own Sadie Filius, who is the younger sister of Peyton Filius, a recent Northern graduate, who played three seasons for the Skylights.

Sadie, who also happens to be the daughter of two Northern Athletic Hall of Fame inductees in Scott and Kari Filius, is also the younger brother of Parker Filius, who is currently wrestling at the University of Purdue.

Like her mother and older sister, Sadie Filius is a skilled basketball player and has used the summer league as a chance to prepare for high school next season, her first with Havre High basketball.

"I like how the coaching staff is really encouraging," Filius said. "They are really trying to help us get better."

In addition to getting to do drill work with the Skylights coaches and players, the summer league also offers a chance for players like Filius to work on their game against varsity players from other local towns. While many other Blue Ponies have been in attendance this summer, players from Turner and North Star have also been frequenting the Skylights summer league.

"I love playing against kids that I don't know," Filius said. "We don't know each other, so we work as hard as we can to try and prove ourselves, but we also make friendships, too."

Mouat agreed that the experience, especially for younger varsity players, can be valuable.

"I think it's the best thing in the world for them," Mouat said. "Not only that, they are playing with different kids from different programs. There are kids from North Star and Turner; you also see kids from Havre and Big Sandy. It's great that they get to play together, but they also create friendships and that's always good. But getting to play against the older kids is a great way for the younger kids to get better."

Turner, which made it, to the Northern C Divisional girls basketball tournament for the first time in decades last season, has been a heavy presence at the summer league the last two years, and it appears to be paying off for the likes of Shyan Krass, along with Reagan and Rylee Conlan, who all played a key role in the Tornadoes finishing third at the District 9C tournament.

"You have to give a lot of credit to the Turner kids," Mouat said. "They have been really dedicated. That has been a great relationship."

And while most of the focus is on the players and their own improvement, Mouat also agreed that the summer league can be an effective recruiting tool, as well.

"You definitely get to work with a lot of kids and see their skill level," Mouat said. "But you also get to know them as people. If there is that kid in the summer league that you really like and want to recruit down the road, you have a way better sense of who they are and what makes them tick. The whole picture becomes a lot clearer."