By Danny Waldo
After losing three quarters of the scoring off of last season’s state runner-up team, the big question coming into the 2016-17 season for head coach Wes Holmquist had to be who would pick up the slack? Three games into the season, that answer appears to be no one, and yet everyone at the same time. Bozeman has had the luxury of having three different leading scorers in their three contests thus far, making them a defensive nightmare for opposing coaches.
Senior Bailey Harlin, a swing JV player a season ago, started the year off strong for the Hawks, putting up an efficient 23 points in Bozeman’s season-opening 81-71 victory over Missoula Sentinel back on December 3rd. Fellow senior Kyler Ash followed up Harlin’s performance by leading the Hawks’ attack in their home-opener, dropping in 14 points to lead Bozeman to a 71-41 dismantling of Helena Capital.
But then, of course, you’ve got the experienced veterans who are expected to lead the team in returning varsity players, Drew Huse, Callahan O’Reilly and Lance McCutcheon. Senior Drew Huse is going on his third season in the varsity lineup, and that experience has turned him into a different player this year. In year’s past, he was content to drop some assists and shoot some threes, but so far, he has expanded his game even further, creating scoring opportunities with nifty drives to the basket or by creating turnovers on the defensive end. O’Reilly has brought muscle and hustle to the lineup, providing an inside presence that Bozeman sorely needs after the graduation of Trace Bradshaw and Aaron Weidenaar, despite standing just 6’3” and going against opponents much taller. O’Reilly, who recently committed to MSU for football, has been able to use his strength and leaping ability to pick up a number of rebounds for offensive put-backs or to start the Hawks on the break.
But the wildcard in the bunch is senior Lance McCutcheon, who has shown a penchant for doing a little bit of everything. His stat line following the Hawks’ victory over Helena Capital read 13 points, seven rebounds, six steals and five assists. “Pretty good stat line,” Holmquist deadpanned. “I don’t know that there’s a much more athletic kid in the state. He can do a lot of different things for us and his confidence is just gong to continue to grow. … Last year he played a lot of minutes and started for us the second half of the year, but he was a role player. Coming off a great football season where he had a breakout year, I think he’s going to have a great year in basketball.”
Bozeman will look to continue its winning ways when the Hawks return to the court on Friday, December 16th in a rematch with Helena Capital in the Capital City. Bozeman returns home December 17th to take on Missoula Hellgate.
For the Hawks’ complete game schedule, log on to www.bsd7.org and visit the activities site.
Danny Waldo is a local freelance writer covering Bozeman Hawk and Montana State Bobcat athletics.
