MISSOULA — The Ronan boys basketball team has been one of the surprises of Class A basketball in Montana.
With a 7-3 record entering Tuesday, the Chiefs sat in second place in the Northwest A conference. Head coach George Sherwood says this is one of the most talented and close teams he has coached.
“I got a bunch of hoopers that love scoring it,” Sherwood said. “But they're so selfless, so they share the ball and everyone gets a chance to get their shots up.”
Along with their scoring ability coach, Sherwood emphasized conditioning during the summer months.
Tayen Edmo, a senior, says this has allowed the team to play a controlled game at a faster pace than most teams it faces.
“Not a lot of teams expect it, so coming out fast and beating their defenses back and getting easy transition buckets, that's where a lot of our points come from,” Edmo said.
With a team led by eight seniors, coach Sherwood says it was easier to implement this style of play.
“It's less talking and more coaching,” Sherwood said. “I don't have to show them everything and they can kind of show my younger guys. It's a good bunch that leads by example to do things the right way and I think that's why we're seeing success.”
The team’s veteran leadership has helped the players believe they can make a big splash this season.
Senior guard Colby Finley says the team has been waiting for an opportunity like this for a long time.
“I played with some of these guys since we were in like fourth grade. We all kind of just come together. Everybody wanted to buy in. Everybody wanted to win. Hopefully (we can) get to state and try to perform well at state.”
