The Hays/Lodge Pole Thunderbirds were in Billings this past weekend to get their 2022-23 basketball season underway. The Thunderbirds were taking part in the All American Indian Shootout being played an Rimrock Auto Arena at Metra Park. The Thunderbirds were challenged both games they played but the resilient young team found a way to earn a pair of wins to start the season 2-0.

Friday the Thunderbirds took on the Lame Deer Morning Stars and pulled out a hard fought 56-54 win late. Saturday morning Hay/Lodge Pole and the Plenty Coup Warriors got the day started with a tightly contest game in which the Thunderbirds played well and earned a 54-49 to get their second win of the season.

In their opener with Lame Deer the Thunderbirds and Morning Stars played an up and down fast paced first quarter that ended with Lame Deer holding a 18-16 advantage. The flow of the game remained the same throughout the half with the Morning Stars winning the second to hold a 29-25 halftime lead,

The Morning Stars pushed the lead to 45-37 to start the fourth quarter. The young Thunderbird team rallied together, overcame foul trouble, outscoring Lame Deer in the fourth 19-9 to pick up a season opening 56-54 win. Sophomore Nina Fox led the way with 16 points, junior Alliya Pretty Paint added 11 as did junior Angela Blackcrow.

First year Head Coach, Cody Shambo isn't a fan of books, highlighting that they mainly reflect who scored the most. Shambo knows the game is a team sport and focuses on that aspect when assessing the teams performance, "We played Lame Deere first, we definitely had some first game jitters. Made a lot of mistakes early, turnovers and it was a pretty physical game. It was back and forth game all night long. We were up, and then we were down," said Shambo.

"We headed into the fourth quarter down eight and the girls fought hard. It was hard to hear and the shot clock was turned off with time running down. They couldn't hear me, it was chaotic, and the gym was loud. They are young and forced it up the floor and took some careless shots when they should have had held the ball up and ran some clock. In the end, that's good experience for them, stuff like that can't be coached they have to go through it an learn from it so for them to pull out a two point win was really good for them. It was a really physical game, we lost two starters to fouls and had a third in trouble."

"The second game against Plenty Coup They played a lot better they were a lot cleaner with their play, a little more prepared and must have had gotten all those early season jitters out," said Shambo. "They ran the press well forced a lot of turnovers, nearly shut them out the first quarter up 14-0. They knew what they needed to do different, they moved their feet on defense and didn't reach for the ball. I was really pleased with the way they played that game start to finish. Junior Aliya Pretty Paint had 23 against Plenty Coup.

This years squad includes seniors Shauntae Hawley and Nashone Shambo, juniors Imagine Fox, sophomores Nina Fox, Angela Blackcrow and Gabrielle Walker. Freshman are Taylee Messerly, Haley Walker and Chaynelle McConnell.

Looking at their schedule Shambo shared his thoughts. "We play Rocky Boy and that's the first time we have had them on our schedule in years. North Star, they are pretty scrappy, play hard nose defence and will give us trouble. Big Sandy will be tough, they are somewhat younger like us but they have put the work in and will be tough. Fort Benton has such great history, so there is no way I would overlook them in anyway. Then we have Chinook and they will be really good this year. They will be the toughest team in the District 9C, by far the toughest team we face. Hopefully we can get a couple of wins, build some confidence and have some momentum heading into the break. Then when we come back and can insert Nashone, things will really get better and we can build on that momentum. It's going to be a tough season, but I like our chances."

The Thunderbirds played the Rocky Boy Morning stars on Tuesday and we will have results in next weeks Blaine County Journal. Hays/Lodge Pole will begin District 9C play this Friday in Gildford against the North Star Knights. Saturday the girls will host the Big sandy Pioneers in their home opener. The Thunderbirds will conclude 2022 with a road contest in Fort Benton on Tuesday, December 20 before hosting the Chinook Sugarbeeters on Wednesday, December 21.