This coming Sunday at Bozeman’s Historic Ellen Theatre, at 1:30 p.m. in its upstairs ballroom, Wally Kurth and Montana PBS will present a viewing of Class C: The Only Game in Town.  

It’s hard to believe the documentary on Class C girls basketball in the Treasure State was released 20 years ago (hence the showing). It’s also amazing how well it holds up.  

There is some eyebrow-raising commentary from coaches, and not all five teams featured in the nearly 90-minute film make it to the eight-team State C tournament. But if a person were to follow up — well. Amazing.  

That state tournament serves as the climax of the film, and I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but: That’s a hell of a play Scobey drew up.  

Speaking of which, one of the first interviews is with Scobey senior Lindsey Tande, who emotionally talks about how her parents own the grocery store in her shrinking town in the Northeast corner of the state. By then Tande Grocery was on its third generation of owners.  

“I’m going to cry,” Lindsey Tande says, and then she does. “It eats me up every time I hear my dad say, ‘It’s really sad to not put any more money into the store.’ “  

Quickly composing herself, she smiles. “He wishes so much for us to marry a grocer.”  

Over in Twin Bridges, Rob Lott was putting the Lady Falcons through the paces in the 2004-5 season.   

“Coaching Class C basketball is like playing five-card poker, but no draw,” Lott said, and 20 years later he noted in 2011-12 he had a couple very good hands. He guided the Falcons to the 8-man title in 2011, and his Lady Falcons — featuring future Bobcat standout Peyton Ferris — were runners-up at state the following March.  

In 2004, daughter Whitney Lott talked of helping out on the family ranch while dad taught math and coached multiple sports.  

“It's changing,” she said. “The price of land and everything has gone up so much, and a lot of wealthy people come in and just buy the big ranch and fence it up.”  

In the ensuing 20 years, ranches have been swallowed up and more schools have combined along the Hi-Line and eastern part of Montana; Chester, one of the five teams featured in the film (Reed Point-Rapelje and Box Elder round out the starting five), became Chester-Joplin-Inverness for the 2005-06 school year.   

In 2019 Scobey made it back to state and faced conference rival Savage in the consolation game. Coaching Savage: Bill Triplett, who guided Reed Point-Rapelje in 2004-05. Playing for the third-place Spartans: Lindsey Tande’s niece, Karys Lamb.   

We learned this from Lindsey’s older sister, Maria Lamb, who is part-owner of Tande Grocery these days, along with parents Craig and Romilda. She married a Billings boy and brought him back to God’s Country. Her very young kids made an appearance or two in the documentary, which is available at montanapbs.org.  

If you wondered: Rob Lott, 69 and retired, still has the ranch that goes back to his kin’s days with the Vigilantes.   

“I’ve got most of it leased out now, so I don’t have to work as hard,” he said Wednesday. “I’m proud of the fact I’m a landowner and it’s bought and paid for.”  

He’ll eventually will it to his three kids, he said, and they’ll have the option to keep it  —  or perhaps take an offer from some wealthy people coming in.   

“Trust me,” Lott said. “That threat has not gone away.” 

Fritz Neighbor can be reached at 758-4463 or at fneighbor@dailyinterlake.com.