Mission Boys take on experienced Western 7B
Bulldog Landon Walks Over Ice aims for the basket during last week's game against Fairfield. (Christa Umphrey photo)
Mission Bulldogs basketball team will return three varsity returners from a squad that landed just a bucket away from the state tournament last season. While they will be making adjustments for the 2023-24 campaign, the Bulldogs will continue to offer must-see basketball in the southern end of the Mission Valley.
“Last year, our team took a while to hit their stride, but we hit it during tournament time,” Mission Head Coach Stuart Grant said. “We had a strong senior class that had lots of experience. We lost in a challenge game to go to state versus Bigfork by two points.”
Landon Walks Over Ice and Lex LaFrombois saw lots of minutes for Mission and are back this year to make an even larger impact. Overall, the Bulldogs have five upperclassmen, while the rest are underclassmen.
“Our skill development is a priority this year, and we will grow as a team throughout the year and look to be playing our best at the end of the season,” Grant said. “We have a more guard-oriented team this year, and our strengths will be our ball handling, shooting, and quickness.”
Stuart said Thompson Falls and Eureka return much of their same roster from last year and should be tough to compete with.
“They have lots of experience,” Grant said.
New this year, Superior joins the Western 7-B to help replace Bigfork, which moved to Class A. Troy and Plains should also be better teams this year, predicted Grant.