By Danny Waldo
Head coach Wes Holmquist couldn’t have asked for a better start to the 2018-19 high school basketball season after watching his boys race past the Helena High Bengals, 70-50.
Senior post Ryan Lonergan led the way for the Hawks, dropping in a game-high 22 points, while fellow senior Ryan Simpson contributed 15.
The first half was a back-and-forth affair with neither team able to gain much separation, but that all began to change in the third quarter as the Hawks began to exert their will in the paint, leading to easy baskets and a back-breaking 18-0 run that affectively sealed the season-opening victory. Bozeman would eventually outscore Helena 25-8 in the third quarter before salting away the game in the fourth.
In the second half, Bozeman shot 71 percent from the floor with many of those coming from close range, as the Hawks dropped in 23 points in the paint.
Bozeman would follow up their home-opening victory with a hard-fought win on the road over Helena Capital 54-49 in the Capital City.
Bozeman found points were harder to come by against an aggressive Bruin defense, but patient offensive execution eventually proved fruitful for the Hawks as they began to pull away in the second half after leading just 25-20 at halftime.
Bozeman was once again led by the combination of Ryan Lonergan and Ryan Simpson, as Lonergan dropped in 20 points and Simpson finished with 20.
Bozeman returns home for a single game on the 14th versus state-title contender Missoula Hellgate, led by UM commit Rollie Worster, before closing out 2018 on the road at Missoula Sentinel and Kalispell-Glacier.
Girls
For the Bozeman girls, the opening weekend was the complete opposite.
The Lady Hawks opened up the 2018-19 campaign on the road versus two-time defending state champion Helena.
After battling for much of the first half, the Bengals title-winning pedigree started to take over as Helena outscored the Bozeman girls 18-13 in the third quarter to stretch their lead to double-digits heading into the final frame on their way to a 48-35 win.
UM commit Jamie Pickens was a statistical nightmare for the Hawks after dropping in 22 points, eight blocks and nine rebounds.
The Lady Hawks would follow up their season-opening loss on the road with another defeat in their home-opener to the Helena Capital Bruins 59-44.
The Lady Hawks return to the road to take on Missoula Hellgate on December 14th before closing out the 2018 portion of their schedule with a pair of home contests versus Missoula Sentinel and Kalispell-Glacier.
Danny Waldo is a local freelance writer covering Bozeman Hawk athletics.
