POLSON — It was an action-packed District 14C tournament last week with the St. Regis boys and Charlo girls taking home championship trophies.
For the Tigers, this moment has been manifested all year with an undefeated record in their district.
Their coach, Jesse Allan, has played a large part in that success as he holds his players to a winning standard, whether they are up by one point or 30.
“Well, I'm a psycho, as you can see if you see me on the sidelines, so they know it's coming no matter how they play,” Allan said. “But they're committed, they're coachable, it's a great group, exceptional young men, each and every one of them.”
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That coaching and intense style has given St. Regis a top seed in the Western C divisional tournament, where the Tigers plan to continue stacking up wins.
St. Regis guard Conner Lulis said this goal was set at the end of last season when they fell short of the state tournament.
“There was a big group of seniors last year, and a lot of us thought we could be better than them,” Lulis said. “At the beginning of the year, we all told each other we're going to state. There's no doubt about it.”
On the girls' end, Charlo has been taking care of business all year with an 11-1 conference record in the regular season.
While the Vikings may score a lot of points, Charlo guard Brielle Zemple said the team’s biggest strength comes when the opponent has the ball.
“Once we get going on the defensive end, our offense starts flowing a lot better,” Zemple said. “So, we just work really hard on defense to get our offense going, and it works for us."
Senior forward Madison Harris said the district win has given Charlo new momentum it has not had in years past, heading into the rest of the postseason.
“It really gives us the confidence going into divisionals,” Harris said. “I know that there's a lot of great teams going in there, and it just gives us the confidence to know that we know we can play with them and we know that we're good enough to be at divisionals and maybe even state."
But one thing both teams have in common is a desire to win with their small communities behind them.
"We're pretty much just one big happy family, and we all support each other in everything,” Harris said. “It's just a really great thing knowing that we have the community to support us no matter what.”
“I don’t have words to explain it,” Lulis said. “It’s just an awesome feeling to have all these people.”
St. Regis and Charlo will both tip off on Wednesday at the Western C divisional tournament in Butte. The Vikings will play Lincoln in a first-round game at 4:30 p.m., while the Tigers will meet Valley Christian at 7:30 p.m.
