The Big Sandy Pioneers finish up the season as the 2nd ranked team in the Class C in the State of Montana. The Pioneers lost 74-65 in the State C Championship Game to Manhatten Christian. The Pioneers had a great season finishing as the #2 Seed in the 9-C regular season, before advancing to the Divisional Round as the #3 seed from the district tournament, before making it all the way to the final game of state.
Sitting down and asking Head Coach Rine LaBuda to reflect on his team’s run, here is what he had to say:
“You have to be proud of how the season went. You know obviously playing in the last game of the season you have to feel good about that. It was an interesting season; we had a lot that we learned. We were kind of finding our style of play, what recipes would lead to success. And I think we found that, which ultimately led to our success in the tournaments that ended with us in that championship game.” – LaBuda
Big Sandy was able to defeat four different #1 seeds as underdogs in the Divisional & State rounds of the Tournament. When asked about what clicked for his team in the post season, LaBuda credited team play as the key factor:
“I think honestly it was a pretty simple thing. We’ve had some incredible individuals and individual talent. Our tendency had been to try to have that individual play take us to success and it simply doesn’t work that way. Once they started to trust their teammates, we started to move the ball around and find the open guy. It was as simple as that to have success.” – LaBuda
Congratulations on a great season by coach LaBuda and the Big Sandy Pioneers.
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