CHICAGO, Ill. — Days after being named the State AA boys basketball tournament most valuable player, Missoula Hellgate junior Rollie Worster added a more impressive honor to his resume — the 2018-19 Gatorade boys basketball player of the year.
Worster led Hellgate to a 21-2 record this season, with a runner-up finish at the Class AA boys basketball state tournament at the Butte Civic Center last Saturday. The Knights fell to champion Bozeman 55-53 in overtime. Worster had 26 points in the loss.
The Montana Grizzly commit averaged 22.2 points, 5.9 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.3 steals per game for Hellgate head coach Jeff Hays, which saw his team go undefeated against Montana competition until the state final. Worster, a 6-foot-3, 200-pound guard, was the MontanaSports.com unanimous MVP of the state tournament after averaging 24.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, 1.0 steals and 1.0 assists per game.
He is a two-time all-conference and all-state selection for the Knights.
“Rollie Worster is by far the most skilled and athletic player I’ve seen across the state,” said Missoula Sentinel head coach Jay Jagelski in the Gatorade release. “He’s constantly able to produce 20-plus point games while being keyed on by every opponent, and he makes his teammates better with his unselfish play.”
Worster maintains a 3.28 GPA at Missoula Hellgate and quarterbacked the Knights’ football team to its first win since 2012. Hellgate defeated Great Falls CMR 28-20 on Sept. 21, 2018, nearly 2,200 days since the program’s last win.
Worster is the second consecutive Missoula athlete to win the award, following former Missoula Sentinel standout Sam Beighle. Great Falls High’s Brendan Howard, who now competes at MSU Billings, won consecutive Gatorade awards in 2015-16 and 2016-17.
As Montana’s recipient, Worster is given the opportunity to present a $1,000 grant to a youth sports organization of his choosing as part of the Gatorade “Play It Forward” campaign. He is also eligible to complete an essay to earn one of 12 $10,000 grants for the same cause.
Helena High’s Jamie Pickens repeated as Montana’s Gatorade girls player of the year last week.
