Articles written by Sean Janssen
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Holidays pass but Pioneers still have cheer
Cheerleading began fashionably late this school year but has been fashionable as of late. The Big Sandy Pioneers boast a six-girl squad this winter sports season after a fall hiatus. The cheer crew...
Wrestlers add numbers, experience
The Big Sandy Pioneers are contributing twice as many wrestlers in 2021 to their co-op squad with Fort Benton as they did in a successful season a year ago. The Fort Benton/Big Sandy combined team...
Boys hoop comeback short vs. CJI, beaten by Beeters
With back-to-back three-pointers from Pioneers young (freshman Lane Demontiney) and old (senior Kade Strutz), Big Sandy halved what had once been a 20-point deficit against visiting...
Girls cagers can't contain Hawks, Beeters
Big Sandy faced perhaps its most frustrating league foe Friday in the form of the Chester-Joplin-Inverness Hi-Line Hawks. Two years ago, the Pioneer girls came up short by two points twice against...
Young Pioneers start journey with league's best
In a sense, Big Sandy boys' basketball is picking up just where it left off. The Pioneers faced Fort Benton with a divisional title and state playoff berth on the line in their penultimate game of...
Pioneer girls' hoop go to school of hard knocks
There are no easy games in the District 9C, as the Big Sandy girls have found out again and again on the hardwood in recent years. Though there are somewhat less challenging games than those against...
Pioneer Jr. High boys move from mat to court
Raw talent more accustomed to rubber mats than a rubber ball refined its way to a respectable season on the hardwood in junior high boys’ basketball at Big Sandy. First-year coach Katie Nicholson led a team loaded with athleticism that finished...
JH Pioneer girls flex on court
It took a fair amount of scheduling gymnastics to permit Big Sandy to complete a full junior high girls basketball season in 2020. The Pioneers proved able to defeat nearly every opponent they faced, COVID-19 included. The pandemic forced last-minute...
Thanksgiving: 'to be thankful, that would suffice.'
The observance of Thanksgiving Day felt appropriately simple to me this year. I write this, however, with the caveat that I cooked nothing for the turkey dinner. Those who devoted hours to their bird and/or its tabletop companions may have seen...
Pioneers corral Longhorns 57-6 in playoff opener
It's not quite the bustling holiday season but Big Sandy is already toiling away at vanquishing the Ghosts of Postseasons Past. The first specter appeared against a backdrop of powdery white in the fo...
Hawks prey on wounded Pioneers in VB reg. Season finale
The Pioneer volleyball lineup that took the court a week prior to Saturday's regular season finale at home didn't look much like the one from a week prior. It probably won't look much like the one...
Big Sandy host for district volleyball as Pioneers shake up
Big Sandy is set to host play in the first two rounds of the District 7C volleyball tournament Oct. 29 and 30. "That's huge," Pioneers coach Brittany McKenney said. "We've never hosted tournaments...
Big Sandy Netters making progress near season-end
SAND COULEE — The Big Sandy Pioneers are seeing improvement as their regular season on the volleyball court nears completion. Big Sandy 3, Centerville 0 The Pioneers went down to Sand Coulee and swept Centerville on Tuesday, Oct. 7 for their...
Pioneers reclaim North, chase state title after 46-29 PDB win
The football season at Big Sandy is playing out like a great drama. In Act I, the Pioneers were matched with bit players and the action lacked suspense as they rolled to 3-0. After a three-week long...
Pioneers return to favorite status, withstand Refiners' fire 74-34
It just took a bit of time to soak in oil country before Big Sandy could be free of the rust of three weeks without football and claim a 74-34 win Friday night in Sunburst. A mistake-filled end to...
Netters hope to build mo' off D-B win
A little home cookin’ got the Big Sandy spikers back on a winning track Saturday. Coming off three straight away matches, the Pioneers took advantage of a homecourt edge at last and beat Dutton/Brady, 25-18, 25-15, 25-6. “It was an exciting...
North Star plays the long game again, beats Big Sandy
As Yogi Berra said, "It's like deja vu all over again." For the first time in 2020, Big Sandy matched up on the volleyball court Saturday against an opponent they had seen earlier in the season. This...
Big Sandy spikers split on the road
The Big Sandy Pioneers’ varsity volleyball squad collected its first victory on the road in District 7C play Friday in Hays before dropping a hard-fought match Saturday at Chester. The Pioneers won their second match of the season much as they did...
Pioneers reserves pile up points on Box Elder, 68-13
Two weeks after it started, the Big Sandy Pioneers football regular season is halfway done. In yet another 2020 oddity, the home slate is two-thirds complete following Friday’s 68-13 romp over Bear Paw country rival Box Elder. Fourteen days after...
Pioneers reserves pile up points on Box Elder, 68-13
There’s no night like Parent Night to pick up a win. Upon recognizing the support of their folks, the Big Sandy varsity and junior varsity volleyball squads each swept visiting Box Elder Thursday night. The victory is the first on the season for...
Lady Longhorns stampede over Pioneers, 3-0
The new kids on the block might just be the toughest kids on the block. The Fort Benton Longhorns left no uncertainty on the floor Friday night that they will challenge for a district crown, as they swept away visiting Big Sandy, 25-3, 25-5, 25-12....
Pioneers start slow, then roll over Valier 47-6
The rumpled appearance of new wrinkles in the Big Sandy offense ironed out smooth in the second half of a 47-6 win against visiting Valier in Friday's football season opener. "It was very sloppy,"...
Lady Pioneers measure against league's best
An opening week against upper-tier league foes Chinook and North Star sent Big Sandy volleyball to the school of hard knocks. The defending league champion Sugarbeeters swept the host Pioneers,...
Pioneers prepare to reload - not rebuild
The more things change, the more they stay the same for the powerhouse Pioneer pigskin program. Big Sandy left unfinished business on the field after a 10-1 2019 season ended with a semifinal loss to...
Pioneer netters have new look, vision for 2020
Before a single set is played, chalk one up in the "win" column for Big Sandy volleyball. With all the chaos and uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic, the squad is well aware every match, every...
