Prep sports season restarts after Christmas break
FRITZ NEIGHBOR | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 3 years, 2 months AGO
SPORTS EDITOR Fritz Neighbor is the Sports Editor for the Daily Inter Lake. He oversees sports coverage across the Flathead Valley, including high school athletics, youth sports, and regional competitions. In his leadership role, he helps shape the newspaper’s sports coverage and editorial direction. Fritz’s column, Full Count, taps into his decades’ long career covering Montana sports. You’ll also see Fritz sharing his thoughts and insights on the Big Sky Now podcast. IMPACT: Fritz’s work celebrates the athletes and teams that bring Northwest Montana communities together. | January 5, 2023 10:55 PM
Christmas break has ended and the high school athletic schedule is full this weekend, with basketball and wrestling.
The Flathead wrestling teams are at Spokane — along with the Glacier boys — for the Pacific Northwest Classic tournament.
Most of the Northwest A wrestling teams will be in Ronan for the Western Montana Duals.
Girls basketball games are set for Friday and Saturday at Flathead and Glacier; the Bravettes have a showdown with Missoula Sentinel Friday while Glacier plays host to Butte.
Flathead is planning to have Maddy Moy, who suffered a knee injury in the summer, back on the court.
“She’s going to be on a pitch count,” Bravettes coach Sam Tudor said. “She’s been cleared by a doctor, but we’re definitely going to take the proper precautions and ease her back into the lineup.”
Flathead went 3-1 without Moy, a key player on last year’s team that took third at state.
Sentinel is 2-1 with a 59-52 loss to defending State AA champion Billings Skyview. Each team has a standout junior leading the way: Kennedy Moore for Flathead and Emily McElmurry for Sentinel.
The Spartans will be coming off a Thursday game: They rescheduled a home game with Belgrade postponed on Dec. 20.
The team battled three times last season. Flathead won twice, including a 53-44 win in the State AA consolation game.
“They have all the pieces intact — it should be a good game,” Tudor said of the Spartans. “We’ve had some good practices leading up, and we’re pretty focused. I’m excited to play Sentinel.”
Glacier’s girls start the weekend with a home game against Butte; each team had one December victory, Noah Fincher is among the Wolfpack leaders while Butte has a rebound magnet named Laura Rosenleaf (Northwest Montana stats are on Page B2).
While the local AA girls teams are home the boys are the road: Flathead plays at Sentinel and Butte Friday and Saturday and the Glacier Wolfpack start with Butte Friday and then come back to Sentinel.
Another game of note is Polson’s girls playing at Whitefish Friday; first-year Pirates coach Brandie Buckless was a standout player for Whitefish.
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