St. Regis Tigers breaking losing streak at home

ST. REGIS – The St. Regis boy’s basketball team broke a 78 game streak of losses last weekend as the Tigers went 1-1 against Victor and Alberton.

According to Head Coach Tyler Nordby, the boys played very well. In the game against the Victor Pirates, the Tigers lost with a final score of 56-30. Despite only six players on the team, where other schools had 10, Nordby felt the boys played very hard.

The turnaround happened in the game against the Alberton Panthers. St. Regis defeated Alberton 37-28 to reverse the trend and begin a new chapter of games in the school’s history. St. Regis had a good defense throughout both games. However, some work would need to be done on the offensive end.

Over the course of the weekend, one player especially stood out as an exceptional player. The player was especially noteworthy because he was so young and had never played basketball at this level before.

Nordby gave special praise to Brandon Managhan, one of the two middle schoolers on the varsity team. Managhan played very well, even though he had no prior varsity experience, and worked the field in a number of strong plays.

“It was his first time ever playing [varsity],” said Nordby. “He came out and he was a leader.”

A special exception was made for Managhan and fellow eighth grader Eric Eslick, by the Montana High School Association, to join the varsity basketball team. When only five boys joined the team, a few more names needed to be added to the roster to give St. Regis a strong team to play with.

Had the junior high members not joined the team, any injuries would have been a serious problem for St. Regis to continue in a game. There were also concerns about exhaustion as a result of the boy’s inability to rest except on timeouts and between matches.

Nordby also praised senior Dallas Lewis as a solid defender. While Lewis contributed to offense, his strongest role was on the defensive end. His 6’3”, lanky build was very helpful in the defensive plays.

After the Tiger Tail Tournament, it was hard for Nordby to evaluate how the Tigers stood against the competition this year. Over the course of the tournament, St. Regis played teams, which are not on the normal schedule for the school to play. However, Nordby thought the team looked better than he expected it would at the start of the season.

“I was very pleased with what I saw,” said Nordby.

The next St. Regis game will the Thursday, December 19, at home against the Lincoln Lynx. Nordby was optimistic about the game’s outcome and hopes to keep the streak of wins alive. According to Nordby, a win would be especially good since Lincoln was one of the teams the Tigers hope to beat this season.

The week before the game, the Tigers worked on improvements to offensive strategies. There will also be work done on the fundamentals of the game.

Nordby felt the outcome of the tournament was a great start for the year and was happy to break the streak.