Arlee Scarlets eyeing first basketball championship

Arlee High School power forward Bryndle Goyins is acutely aware of the heightened intensity level between the regular season and postseason.

Last season Goyins and her teammates got to experience the true pandemonium of a proud town that was left virtually vacant when the Scarlets and Warriors qualified for Montana’s Class-C state basketball tournament.

According to Goyins, simply put the “stage was much bigger.”

“The stage is bigger and like I said, during divisional and state time is when the community really gets involved,” Goyins said. “Last year when we made it to state, there was no one left in our town. Basketball tournament time in Arlee is definitely a big deal.”

Last season, the girls lost in the state semi-final round to Box Elder and last year’s near miss has them thinking championship this year.

This season, the team dynamics and responsibilities are different for the Scarlets and for Goyins, one of only three seniors on the roster. They will look for her to be one of the leaders by example with a young team on its quest for a title after they strung together a 13-game win streak, including playoffs.

This year, Goyins said she has embraced her role as a team leader.

“It’s way different and the stadiums that you play in are a lot more intimidating during divisional and state,” Goyins said. “The main thing is just telling them to go out and play like it’s another regular season game and not making it bigger than it really is (in your mind). It’s frightening and I just have to tell players to go out and play like its a regular-season game.”

Arlee ran roughshod through their opponents at the Western Class 14C Districts, handling their arch-rival Charlo 50-24 and downing St. Regis in the championship game 38-28. In their Jan. 14 meeting with the Lady Vikings, their first meeting of the season, they narrowly escaped with a 36-24 victory. The Scarlets didn’t allow a single point in the fourth quarter and won on senior Carly Hergett’s 8-of-9 free throw shooting performance in the fourth quarter.

According to Coach Bill Stockton, his Scarlets still “haven’t peaked.”

“We are playing good basketball but we still haven’t reached our full potential because we have to make sure that we play a full 32 minutes of basketball,” Stockton said. “At the District Championship, we did a great job but in the beginning of the second and third quarters, there were still lapses. In order to continue to make it to state we still have to play 32 minutes.”

By design, Stockton made the early portion of the season schedule difficult to prepare his team for the playoffs. The Scarlets lost their first three regular games to Class-B team Florence (67-48), and then lost twoconsecutive games to Box Elder (76-43) and Rocky Boy (65-42).

According to Hergett, who is one of three seniors along with Goyins and Abby Yocum, said the early portion of the schedule was “an amazing experience.”

“We got beat by quite a bit and it was an awesome experience to play against those type of teams,” Hergett said. “They play a lot different. It was difficult being in our first few games of the season. It didn’t make us scared for the season. It gave us good confidence going into the season.”

Hergett said traveling to Havre exposed her and her teammates to a “different style of basketball.”

Hergett described the Native-American Classic similar to the playoff atmosphere.

“I would say there are a bunch of people there and (experiencing it) helps the situation for us having the support behind us all of the way,” Hergett said. “We try to not go into the playoffs scared. Now we know we can succeed in the playoffs, which is awesome.”

Hergett, like Goyins, knows it is essential for her, as one of the leaders of the team, to guide the young team into the playoffs.

“You know we have some new players this year and a few girls that are starting and didn’t see very much varsity experience,” Hergett said. “That is a tremendous difference from our roster last season. Coming into divisional, we will be pretty onerous. You just have to talk to them and let them know ‘it doesn’t matter what happens on the court, it’s OK.’”

At this juncture of the season, Hergett said feeding off the energy of the community is one of her favorite parts of playing in postseason basketball.

“Just having fans there cheering for us and bringing good energy into the game, and knowing we have those people on our side is amazing,’ Hergett said. “I would say that having the fans is a huge support for us.”

Goyins agreed with Hergett’s assessment and for the Scarlets it isn’t just about their state title quest, it’s about their town’s quest for a title.

“Oh yeah, this is big for me being a senior and really wanting to get your name on a state trophy,” Goyins said. “I just hope to make the community proud. You really want that sense of accomplishment for yourself and your town.”