BILLINGS — The stars of the present and future have been putting on shows across gyms in Montana throughout the girls basketball season, culminating with this weekend’s state championships.
As it stands, four current Montana high school girls are set to play NCAA Division I basketball next season, bolstering the Treasure State’s representation. Huntley Project's Paige Lofing has signed with Gonzaga, Baker's Madison O'Connor and Missoula Big Sky's Kadynce Couture with Montana State and Bigfork's Braeden Gunlock with BYU.
The number of girls currently playing Division I hoops is near 20, highlighted by Billings Skyview graduate and two-time Gatorade Montana player of the year Breanna Williams, who is redshirting at Maryland.
We’ve seen Glendive’s Karsen Murphy make multiple runs to the NCAA tournament with Chattanooga and Maddie Albrecht’s Lehigh is team is playing Sunday for the Patriot League title.
Making instant impacts at the next level are the likes of Kourtney Grossman at Eastern Washington, the Big Sky Conference freshman of the year, and Taylee Chirrick at Montana State, the Big Sky’s defensive player of the year.
“I started as a seventh grader, and just going through last year even has opened up so many more opportunities than I could have ever expected," O'Connor said.
“Girls basketball is on the up and coming all over the world, but in Montana it just proves how dedicated we really are. All four of us are traveling to Idaho and Spokane to go to our practices. It's fun to see everybody doing great things even though we face the same challenges," Couture said.
Lofing will be heading west to Gonzaga following her high school graduation, but she was quick to point to the importance of the AAU circuit. Lofing saw her recruiting blow up this past summer after playing AAU ball around the country.
“That's where I got all my offers. I played on the 3SSB team out of Idaho. It gave me a lot of exposure. That's really where I got all my offers from," Lofing said.
“If you look back in time a little bit at the Torry Hills and the Ali Hurleys, there was a group of Montana girls that went and I believe were really successful at an AAU national tournament years ago. I think that's kind of expanded, honestly," Rocky Mountain College women's basketball coach Wes Keller said. Keller coaches the Montana girls team in the Montana-Wyoming all-star basketball series.
The birth of Josh Huestis’ Montana Elite Invitational has also been a proving ground for some of the state’s top players, as they’re able to battle with kids across classifications they’d likely not see otherwise.
“That's a fun camp. It brings a lot of competition and the best players in Montana," Lofing said. "It's fun to play against them. Obviously, the schools we don't get to play against, like the (Class) AA and A schools, it's fun to compete against them."
“It's really cool, especially because I got to play with or against all of those girls," Couture said. "They're so welcoming, so being able to see them do great things is honestly inspiring. Being able to reach out to them or seeing them at the games, it's really cool."
Keller knows a thing or two about the kind of girls basketball Montana has, coaching the Treasure State team in the Montana-Wyoming all-star basketball classic with great success. He’s coached the likes of Grossman and Chirrick in that all-star series and notices a common theme that translates to the next level.
“They're gym rats, coach's kids, some of them. They're gritty and tough. Say what you want, Montana kids are tough in general," Keller said. "For my teams, I'll take a tough, gritty kid over an athletic, soft kid any day of the week."
A future star on the hardwood can likely be found in a gym near you.
