TOWNSEND — While it wasn't the outcome either home team wanted to open the season, high school basketball is officially back in Townsend, and Montana as a whole.
The Townsend girls and boys fell to the Manhattan Tigers, 33-24 and 52-47, respectively, on Saturday.
Despite suffering a loss after the game, the girls team was rather chipper as they were just happy to be back on the court.
"Seventeen practices without a game is pretty hard. Pretty tough to stay motivated, but I think our team was really positive," said Emma Huffman. "We were really excited for (Saturday). It's just nice to finally be back."
For Charlotte Watson, the loss to Manhattan signified something much larger, her first game back after tearing her ACL.
"Feels good to be back, just not having a season last year myself and having a whole new group of girls, it's exciting to be back," said Watson.
On the boys side, head coach Clint Watson wasn't exactly pleased with the loss, but he was happy with what he saw from his team on its first night back.
"We have a whole different dynamic this year. We've got kids who can run the floor, kids who can dunk it, kids that can guard. Manhattan had good players," said Watson.
Though this is just the first night for Watson and his team, in his eyes, the Bulldogs have a lot to be excited about.
"I think the kids are going to play with a lot of heart this year and they'll be fun to watch," he said.
