The Big Sandy Mountaineer -

Halfway through the winter season, each coach knows where they are and where they want to go.

Pioneer boys basketball coach Thomas Dilworth says his personal goal is to coach character. “I want to have good men, not good basketball players. That’s my biggest thing, focusing on that because it all relates to basketball. It’s discipline, integrity, and accountability. You have to use them to be a good basketball team. I like to win games; it’s fun, but I hope that’s not what I am remembered by.”

Right now, “We’re learning. When we get on the right page and decide we want to win more than, we want to be individuals. When they watch the film, everyone sees when you slack off.”

As far as the team’s shooting ability, Coach Dilworth said, “Three shoot better than 50%, one that shoots better than 40%, and the other better than 30%. That’s insane in high school.”

“We don’t rebound very well. And we WILL learn to rebound.”

‘I love this season because every game is competitive. It’s been the funniest games. You can go from 1st to 4th in one weekend. The 9c will compete well this year in tournaments.”

Pioneer Girls Basketball Coach Travis Bauman said, “We have three teams, out of the Northern division, that are just monsters. Box Elder is one of them. In his opinion, Box Elder is number one, Chinook is second, and then 3 through 8 is a mad scramble in the district.

He said about the Big Sandy Pioneer girls, “We will get better. We have good ball handlers. We work so hard to get a steal and then turn it over too many times. That is probably some of my problems because I’m always telling them to push it forward, but we had more steals than turnovers.”

Travis continues, “Athletically talented, we are the best in the district, but the basketball knowledge--we aren’t quite there.”

Travis got his basketball philosophy from helping Dean Gamrete, the all-time winningest coach in Montana history. “Defense is first; everything is about defense. You have to adjust your defense depending on what kind of players you have. We’ve changed a few things. Mostly we play zone, but we are working on man to man.“ If the defense is first, the offense will come.

Continuing, Travis said, “We are shooting consistently for the year 27%. We shot 42% against North Star, but 30%-to 32% in most games. We were shot 80% in our free throws, although the last game we slipped a little.”

“They are working hard, and they don’t quit. We’ll be in every game, and but what if…….We have a great opportunity.”

“Our foul issues aren’t because we are going out there and slapping people. It’s because we’re trapping and being aggressive. And I’m ok with that. It’s tough when you are short and have played a half-court game against consistently against taller players.”

“Effort is there. That’s one thing we aren’t lacking.”

“I want to see more fans in the stands for the girls. We are trying to put out a product everyone can be proud of. The girls like it when they see fans coming into the gym. Wow, that’s really cool to have people cheer. They are really fun to watch.”

Wrestling Coach, Tucker Taylor’s coaching philosophy is “ first and foremost just come out, try it, and stick with it for an entire season. Wrestling can be a humble experience. I have a lot of respect for wrestlers who work so hard for the entire season.” It’s really about life skills. “It is an individual sport where you have to do problem-solving. Every opponent is totally different. They have to work on skills because strategy is always changing. Every match is different. For those who work out, it takes a lot of work to make it to state.”

“We do have a chance to make it to state. We are student athletics. Student studies are more important than sport. With the super divisional, we take the top eight, so we have a great opportunity.”