Binford better head back to Twin Bridges

BelgradeBobcat · Post by **BelgradeBobcat** » Wed Feb 22, 2017 10:24 pm

I love the players Binford is bringing into the program. I hope she has a scholly for this kid when the time comes.
http://www.montanasports.com/2017/02/22 ... mpetition/

Bobcat4Ever · Post by **Bobcat4Ever** » Wed Feb 22, 2017 10:57 pm

Thanks for posting that!

Now we have to hope she is good enough to play D1, but not so good that she goes to Gonzaga, for instance. They already have two starters from Montana. The perils of being a mid-major. Kudos to Peyton Ferris for coaching her.

mslacat · Post by **mslacat** » Fri Feb 24, 2017 12:59 pm

If she can run the court, you know Binford will be on her, but MOntana and Montana State used to be able to keep the best basketball talent in state, now though they all want to go out of state, being so close to Twin Bridges can not hurt and having Payton Ferris as coach/role model also can not hurt. Sounds like a great prospect though.

Colter_Nuanez · Post by **Colter_Nuanez** » Fri Feb 24, 2017 2:31 pm

On that note...

MOLDED MENTALITY: Ferris has evolved into one of Big Sky’s best
http://skylinesportsmt.com/molded-menta ... skys-best/

BobcatDel · Post by **BobcatDel** » Mon Feb 27, 2017 11:43 pm

BelgradeBobcat wrote:I love the players Binford is bringing into the program. I hope she has a scholly for this kid when the time comes.
http://www.montanasports.com/2017/02/22 ... mpetition/

Anybody wanting to see Kailee Oliverson play (and evaluate for yourself) can see her in Belgrade this weekend at the State Class C Womens' BB tournament. Twin Bridges plays at 12:30 PM on Thursday. If they lose in the first round they play at 12:30 PM on Friday but if they win their second game will be 6:30 PM on Friday in semifinals (the semifinal game will conflict with the MSU womens' BB game). Of course if they make it to consolation or championship it will be Saturday with first game starting at 6:30 PM. A side note: If both Belt and Twin Bridges girls win round 1 they will be pitted against one another in the semifinals. They are the #1 and #2 teams in the state respectively. The only loss between them is one loss by Belt to a Class B school that is one of the best Class B programs in the state. That would be a good test for Kailee as it will be a big game to see if she can lead her to the championship game.

I was at the Western C in Butte this past weekend and I was able to see her for parts of two quarters of play. My observation is that she moves well, they used her at the tip of the full court press when they were in press mode, she handled the ball well, dribbled the ball effectively when she had to, she ran the court well, she was dominant in the paint. I am not sure I saw an opponent shot get to the rim from inside the paint as she stuffed them all... I saw perhaps 7 or 8 blocked shots in less than two quarters of play.

I did not see her shoot from outside the key so don't know if she can convert the short jumpers or from longer range. Maybe she can, I just didn't see it in my brief exposure to her game.

For the next level, she will need to gain some weight and get on the weights as she is "lean". Although she ran the court well, it will be a faster pace of play at D1 level. Lets just say if I was a coach I would like to have the opportunity to work with her and help my program.

Both Cats and Griz had reps at the one game I saw briefly.

I plan to take in a game or two at the State C tourney to confirm my observations. So take some time to enjoy a game and see for yourself.

BelgradeBobcat · Post by **BelgradeBobcat** » Tue Feb 28, 2017 10:38 am

Thanks for the info.
I'm going to go out on a limb here and predict that Twin and Belt will meet in the semi-final Friday night at the Fabulous Belgrade Special Events Center. Too bad it works out that way as I'm sure we'd have the whole town of Twin Bridges there for Peyton Ferris' senior night otherwise. Maybe Twin will come out for the Cat game Wednesday night instead?

BobcatDel · Post by **BobcatDel** » Tue Mar 07, 2017 4:13 pm

I did take in a couple games at the State C Girl's tourney and saw Kallie play again.

As a junior she does have good basic skills but she certainly will need to get more physical and mental "toughness" to excel at the D1 level. I still did not see her make an outside shot but the video shows she can do it. Teams that put some "muscle" on her could control on offense and defense if they avoided foul trouble. As a coach I would sure like the opportunity to keep working with her.

But there were a couple other future players that I would like to see in a year or two.

Dani Urick from Belt, 5'9" junior, tournament MVP, averaged about 20 ppg against bigger competition, shoots the 3 ball and takes it to the hoop, handled the ball like a male counterpart (that is intended as a compliment of her skill level), good BB sense and mental game is good, tough competitor. I think I read someplace that she shot 50% from the field but I need to check that. Like to see where she ends up next year as we have another 5'9" small school competitor on the Bobcats who did pretty fair for herself this year. If Dani continues to develop she would come in about the right time with Oliana and Madisyen being juniors and Dani as a freshman. I understand she already has some Frontier Conference interest.

Soda Rice, 5"11" sophomore, from Savage. Played forward and sometimes post as she was one of the taller girls on the team but then would come out front to play guard and bring the ball up the court. Handled the ball well, good basketball sense, moved well, could already tell she was trying to be a leader on the court. Shot the 3. Still needing some work but good skills to build on for another two years with the right coaching.

Dethmen sisters, both 6'1", from Froid/Medicene Lake, Mackenzie is a sophomore and Sydney is an 8th grader (yes an 8th grader). Dad is an assistant coach on the team and stands several inches taller than the girls.... I think the dad used to coach at Poplar or other school in Northeastern Montana. Both showed good skills to build on, moved well on the court and handled themselves well, looked like they had good basketball sense. MacKenzie was not afraid to shoot the 3 as well as play inside. Sydney looked timid from outside but she is ONLY AN 8th GRADER but she did put back several near the basket and worked some good post plays with her sister. Both could be fine players by the time they are seniors if development/skills continue. Interesting to see how Froid/Medicene Lake does next couple years because one game I saw they started 1 senior, 1 junior, 2 sophomores, and an 8th grader and they finished 4th at the tourney this year.

Anyone else see Kallie Ollerson play and have a different opinion than I offered?

WolfPtCat · Post by **WolfPtCat** » Tue Mar 07, 2017 5:32 pm

Should probably be moved to the HS Athletics page:

The Dethman girls' father is Andy. He did coach/play at Poplar. Met their mother while playing basketball at Miles Community College. Their mother also played there and transferred to the University of Oklahoma (Andy followed and high jumped). Dad is 6'4", Mom is over 6', native of Australia......good athletic, basketball genes.

BelgradeBobcat · Post by **BelgradeBobcat** » Tue Mar 07, 2017 6:53 pm

Binford's recruiting radius is anywhere that's a direct flight to Bozeman so a Montana Class C kid is going to have to be really, really special to get noticed. I'm intrigued by Oliverson. She's 6'3" now with a wingspan of probably a 6'5" person. Her wingspan is probably longer than the men's team's starting center. Obviously she has to get a lot stronger. It seems to me that what these kids do in high school is secondary to what they do on their traveling AAU teams. Maybe because they can be watched closer then.

RickRund · Post by **RickRund** » Wed Mar 08, 2017 10:15 am

The one sister is an 8th grader??? So I guess they allow them to play in High School. One big positive is she gets to learn tougher competition early.

RickRund · Post by **RickRund** » Wed Mar 08, 2017 10:15 am

The one sister is an 8th grader??? So I guess they allow them to play in High School. One big positive is she gets to learn tougher competition early.

BobcatDel · Post by **BobcatDel** » Wed Mar 08, 2017 5:13 pm

RickRund wrote:The one sister is an 8th grader??? So I guess they allow them to play in High School. One big positive is she gets to learn tougher competition early.

Yes. There were actually three teams at State C tourney with 8th grade girls on the roster. Most didn't play or were in for only cleanup time. Dethman girl put in a lot of minutes. Some of the C schools are so small to fill out a full roster they have been allowing 8th graders to participate. You are right they learn to "play up" early.