by Scott Sacry
The Hamilton boys are the #4 seed from the west and play Lewistown, the #1 seed from the east, on Wednesday, March 9th at 5pm in Missoula at the Adams Center. Lewistown has only one loss on the season and is one of the best teams in the state.
Hamilton Coach Travis Blome said that Lewistown is, “a very strong, very athletic team who work well together. They have a great inside and outside game, and will be a tough challenge. There are nine great teams who made it to state, and everyone is going to be tough.”
The Hamilton boys have had an up and down season, struggling at times and excelling at times.
“We’ve had a tough schedule in a tough division, but we’ve made it through two grinding tournaments – that’s a great accomplishment!” said Blome. When asked about the keys to success, Blome said, “We need to stay focused and play our game. On offense, we need to play quick and fast, and play as a team. On defense, we need to make them earn every shot.” Blome credits the overall team effort as the reason for their success so far. “Asher Magness has been a great offensive threat and keeps improving on defense. Eli Taylor keeps everything together from the point, he does all the little things that help the team, even if they don’t show up on the stat sheet. And Tyson Rostad is the anchor of the team and has played great down the stretch.”
Coach Blome is looking forward to the challenge of state. “Our boys are very coachable and they work hard every day. They have been playing their best basketball at the end of the season.”