GREAT FALLS — Last winter saw one of the better seasons in recent years for the Great Falls CMR boys basketball program, advancing to the Class AA state semifinals. According to the team, it was the first appearance in the tournament in seven years.
While the Rustlers ended up losing to eventual champion Bozeman Gallatin, this year's team returns six seniors, two of who say they're poised for an even further run.
"We bring back a lot of guys, and I'd say we just kind of have a fire," said Dean Blair — a first team all-state performer from last year — at Thursday's practice. "A lot of us think we should've (beat Gallatin) down the stretch, we just didn't pull it out. And you know, somewhere we want to be next year.
"I mean that's one game off the state championship, and that's where we want to be this year."
"Just having that experience I think will help us in that situation for next year obviously, it won't be as new," Brady Henzel said.
Something that is different about this group, as Blair and Henzel say, is it's more tight-knit and all the players are good friends.
"We're just boys essentially," Blair said. "We're friends, and then we just can play ball."
"We're a lot closer than we were last year," Henzel said. "Everyone this year is friends with each other."
Blair said he hopes to "run it back" by being honored to first-team all-state.
"Hopefully help some of my teammates get there as well," Blair said. "Having another guy up there with me on the wall would be pretty special."
CMR starts its season next week. Both Blair and Henzel say they're excited to finally hit the court again.
"Everybody's just antsy to get out there," Blair said.
"We're all really excited," Henzel said. "Obviously it's been like a year since you've played high school basketball. Everyone's really excited, they're ready to go."
The Rustlers head to Kalispell to tip off the season against Glacier and Flathead on Dec. 13-14.
