BILLINGS — Lanee Casterline can laugh about it now. But back in the 2021-22 season, starting as a freshman for the first-ever Lockwood Lions girls varsity basketball?
It was like being thrown to the wolves for Casterline.
“I had just recently started playing basketball (at that point), so I wasn’t very good or experienced,” Casterline said. “It was kind of really scary at first, because I really didn’t know how to do anything.”
Those are the growing pains needed for starting a program from scratch for a school that first opened its doors for freshmen only in 2020. While fellow then-freshmen Tailey Harris and Dani Jordan were more cut out to be starters, players like Casterline had to step into voids and handle whatever uneasiness came their way.
Three basketball seasons on now, as Casterline, Harris, Jordan and Taysha Little Light, another player who has been there since Day 1 for the Lions, near the end of their high school careers, those early days are distant memories. Important memories, however.
“It was pretty tough losing games, playing the top teams,” Little Light said, recalling that first season where the Lions lost their first eight games before finishing the season 6-15. “It was pretty tough, not just for me, but my team.
“All the hard work you put in, we developed a strong foundation and I feel like we just all want to keep that going.”
That foundation includes plenty of career milestones for four-year starters Casterline, Harris and Jordan.
Casterline became the first to hit a career mark when she nabbed her 500th rebound against Laurel at last season’s Eastern A divisional tournament to help the Lions clinch their first-ever state-tournament berth. One day later, Harris scored her 1,000th point.
Then, just last week, Jordan surpassed both the 1,000-point and 500-rebound barriers. All three players were honored together for their achievements recently at a Lockwood home game.
To have three players reach such career milestones pretty much at the same time is a rare occurrence for any program. For Lions coach Robert Tedlund, who has also been there since the beginning, their accomplishments are a combination of many factors.
Opportunity to log a lot of minutes early in their careers for a brand-new program helped. Talent and hard work, of course, are factors, as well. Harris, especially, had the basketball acumen from the beginning. Jordan, at first, was a pure athlete playing hoops. She developed into the player she is through time spent working on her game. And Casterline’s now 600-plus rebounds are a result of sticking it out, not giving into the self-conscious feeling of not belonging on the court. She eventually got there.
“I'm just so thankful they all stuck around,” Tedlund said jokingly. “I made them my managers when they were in middle school (before Lockwood had a varsity program), which was a stupid decision on my part, because we would go travel and lose, like, — I'm not overexaggerating — 85 to 10, 70 to 2. They were my managers, and they're like, what the heck is this?”
Tedlund’s team has gone from six wins that first season to a 10-3 mark so far this year. Last season’s first trip to the state tournament resulted in a two-and-done, but the Lions are aiming for a second-straight appearance with hopefully a tournament win and trophy to boot.
Harris, who has grown stronger over the years into a steady facilitator and scorer at point guard, has already signed with Montana State Billings. Jordan, a multi-sport standout, has offers in multiple sports from multiple schools. Junior college offers are starting to come in for Casterline.
The individual milestones and the scholarship opportunities are fine. But to the players, what’s mattered to them is that foundation.
Tedlund said it’s taking shape. The Lions’ junior varsity and freshman teams are having solidly winning seasons, he said, and the younger girls in the program look up to this senior class.
“They're in a special grouping, because they had an opportunity that nobody else had,” Tedlund said. “They started a program on their own. And one of the big selling points when they were young, because we were worried that maybe they might leave, that’s how bad we were, was it's not just you guys are going to accomplish these things as individuals. It's what are you going to leave behind as a team? We talked about that all the time.
“I'm super excited about tournaments coming up. I feel like this team has a lot of potential. They're a really good, fun, fun team to coach. But I'm also dreading senior night, and I'm dreading the end of the year, just because I've been with this group since middle school. It’s going to be tough to see them go, but it's also been a lot of fun to see them grow, so very bittersweet for me as a coach.”
That’s the real legacy to leave behind.
