It was, in the end, a matter of numbers.

With possibly two key players out and one definitely unable to play this coming Class C basketball season, coupled with a low player turnout from the small Montana school, Alberton officials announced they are suspending play by girls basketball teams “at all levels” for the soon to be underway season.

"Unfortunately, due to low numbers, we are not able to field a high school girls' basketball team," said Alberton Superintendent Damian Droessler. "We hope this is a short-lived situation and we can continue to promote the sport at the lower levels and bring back high school girls' basketball in November 2024."

Alberton, a town of about 450 residents, is 27 miles east of Superior and for several years had been associated with Superior for sports participation purposes as a co-op team.

Two of the top returnees from last year’s team were expected to be out with injuries, sources confirmed.

“Word has it the rest of the girls who were going to play basketball decided not to play given the loss of their two best players and low overall turnout numbers,” said one longtime area sports official. “It’s a pretty sad situation, maybe the co-op arrangement they were in should have gone on a while longer.”

The boys team will continue their venture into varsity sports, including basketball this season. The boys football team, which played in the six-player west conference this season, often played with seven or the bare-minimum six players required for an official game.

Another local source said the decision to drop girls basketball for this season was made a few weeks ago, a move several officials said was good in that it gives other area teams on the women’s basketball schedule time to find replacement games and make adjustments related to fielding varsity sports.