BILLINGS — For Mallory Tommerup, basketball is as much a game of mental acuity as physical skills and fundamentals.
But the 5-foot-7 senior guard from Plentywood lacks for nothing on the court.
Tommerup utilizes a deep competitive drive and fast-paced talent to push the ball and help keep the Wildcats among the top echelon of the Eastern C, where her star shines bright.
“I have seen girls that are just as fast as her or maybe as quick as her, but it’s a mind thing, it’s a competitiveness thing,” Plentywood coach Rob Nyby told MTN Sports. “When it’s her and a girl that’s very comparable speed wise, Mallory’s going to win.
“To me, the competitiveness inside of her is that she’s not going to lose.”
Put it all together and Tommerup is a formidable weapon. Her defensive prowess — she averages nearly four steals per game — helps fuel her offense, which is based in part on her ability to score at the rim and convert in transition.
Entering this week, Tommerup was averaging a shade under 20 points per game, and had hit for a season-high of 30 points in a game against Westby-Grenora on Jan. 11.
Tommerup and the No. 5-ranked Wildcats were 11-1 entering the week, with their only loss being a 41-32 setback to No. 4 Bainville, a District 2C nemesis that is currently undefeated.
Plentywood has been to the state tournament in four consecutive seasons, making the semifinals in 2022 and taking third place in 2023 in Nyby’s first season as coach.
Tommerup, who began playing varsity in eighth grade and has been to state each year, would love another chance to play on the big stage.
“Like they say, once you make the state tournament, your goal is always to be back there,” Tommerup said. “I definitely agree with that.
"Every year since we made it my eighth-grade year, even if I wasn’t playing much, that was everybody’s goal. And that’s another goal for this year too.”
One aspect of Tommerup’s game is her ability to use both hands off the dribble. A righty, Tommerup is just as dexterous going left, and Nyby said she’s more inclined to create a shot off the dribble than to shoot from the perimeter.
It’s all part of that fast-paced mindset.
“Since I was pretty young I have used my left hand more than my right,” Tommerup said, adding with a small laugh, “which is weird because most people aren’t like that.”
Plentywood has been tested this season in several close games but has managed to find ways to prevail each time: a one-point win against Jordan, a four-point win in OT over Scobey, a five-point win over Brockton, a seven-point win over Westby-Grenora, a three-point win over Savage, and a three-point win over Froid-Lake, also in OT.
By the way, Tommerup averaged 20.2 points in those six thrillers.
“It’s mostly a mindset,” she said. “We know that if we’re down with a couple minutes left that there’s always a chance to pull through. We do it a lot, I guess, which is maybe not a good thing. But it helps. It helps everybody’s mindset knowing that the game’s not over.”
“Winning teams know how to win, and the other girls have been a part of it too,” Nyby said. “But Mallory is right there at the front of it. She’s going to find a way to make a play, to get a steal, to do something to propel us, for sure.”
In terms of her future prospects, Tommerup, who as a kid looked up to former Plentywood standouts Victoria Obergfell and Liv Wangerin, has received an offer from Rocky Mountain College, and also said she will visit with Carroll College soon.
But that’s later. In order for Tommerup and the Wildcats to make it to the Class C state tournament for the fifth consecutive season — this year’s gathering will be March 12-15 at the Butte Civic Center — they must navigate a divisional landscape that includes some of the classification’s top teams.
Two-time defending champion Saco-Whitewater-Hinsdale might have said goodbye to some top-tier talent but hadn’t lost a game in 67 tries (as of this publication). Bainville looks like it will contend, and Circle, Brockton and Scobey can’t be dismissed.
“It’s obviously going to be hard. Our division is tough,” Tommerup said. “But I do think we have potential to be competitive with all of those teams.”
“There’s obviously still work to be done,” she added. “But we have a team that’s able to get back there.”
