Last year the Big Timber girls capped off a perfect season with a State B title inside First Interstate Arena in Billings. The Sheepherders return a core group of standouts and the expectation is a repeat.
“To me, I just wanted to be our best at the end of the season, so I think that loss at the beginning to a good team showed us that we’ll have to work really hard this year to repeat," Big Timber head coach Kim Finn said. "It’s definitely what we want to do. We’re going to get there. I think we have the team to do it.”
“Just to keep working hard and playing together, not really think of it as pressure and just keep playing our game and having fun with it," said junior guard Bailey Finn.
The Herders won’t have the pressure of consecutive unbeaten seasons, though, as Big Timber fell in early December to Colstrip and to Jefferson in January. Those losses can be turned into positives.
“It was really good for us to refocus us and when we got back to practice the next week we really worked hard and it was more serious than it has been," Bailey Finn said.
“We don’t ever go into a game thinking we’re going to lose," said Kim Finn. "If something happens, like earlier in the season, we went back to the drawing board and figured out what we needed to do, so hopefully that works out for us for the year.”
The Southern B took first, second and third at the State B tournament last year and looks loaded at the top once again.
“It just shows us what we’re up against and the best in Class B. It really pushes us because we know there’s other great teams, and we get to play them early in the season and just know exactly what it’s going to be like," said senior Emily Cooley.
The Southern B divisional tournament kicks off inside First Interstate Arena on March 2.
