After a marathon nonconference basketball season, the Frontier Conference finally tipped off play Friday, with Carroll, Great Falls, Rocky and Northern all seeing action.
Montana Tech’s men and women travel to Dillon Saturday to play Western at the Straugh Gymnasium on the UMW campus, women at 6 p.m. and men at 8.
The battle between the men’s teams for the ’Digger-Dawg Cup resumes after Montana Tech won both games last year, 78-76 in Butte and 85-79 in Dillon.
“We swept them for the first time in a long time, but it’s a different crew now, and they’re playing very good basketball,” said Tech men’s coach Nate Larson.
Former Western head basketball coach Mark Durham took over as athletic director last spring and the Bulldogs hired Steve Keller as their new head coach.
The Western men compiled a 7-7 nonconference record, including five straight wins at the end, the last of which was a 77-57 win over MSU-Billings.
“I am very pleased with our 7-7 nonconference record,” Keller said. “We won big games on the road against quality opponents. It was a very tough nonconference schedule but it helped us a ton in preparation for conference. We are playing very well now with four guys averaging in double figures. I am pleased with our defensive effort as well.” Layne Glaus leads the Bulldogs in scoring with almost 13 points per game followed by Chad Myers with 12.8, Aaron Sims with 12.1 and Gus McDonald with 11.7. Sims leads the team in rebounding with 8.6 rebounds per game followed by Daniel Creech with 6.4. Sims has recorded five double-doubles in the preseason.
The Orediggers suffered through an injury-plagued 2007 with a 4-10 record, though Tech was competitive in most of the games.
“Right now depth isn’t one of our strengths,” Larson noted, although he pointed to a big, talented pool of players who make up the front line.
Dusan Veselinovic leads the ’Diggers in scoring with 19 points per game followed by Jeramie Hopson with 13 and Tony Trudnowski with 12.5. Jake Williams leads the Orediggers in rebounding with seven boards per game followed by Casey Briggs with 6.7. Tech averages 73 points per game as a team.
The ’Diggers put Williams at point guard last November, a move Larson said has paid dividends.
“He’s the second leading assist man in the conference with some very good all-around games,” Larson said. “Against Whitman he almost had a triple-double.” The Western women graduated four tough players from last season’s talented squad, including NAIA All-America post Katherine Sunwall. Still, Bulldog coach Kevin Engellant has reloaded and compiled an 11-3 nonconference record.
“We are excited for the conference season to begin,” Engellant said. “Overall we’ve played well and have improved throughout the nonconference season, but we realize that this is a tough conference and there are no easy games.” Western is led by Jill Dana with 14.3 points per game. Genna Rucker is next with 9.8 and Chloe Mosey averages 9.3. Laura Shea leads the team in rebounding with 7.4 rebounds per game followed by Mosey with 6.8 and Samantha James with 6.1.
“(Western) is young — they kind of remind me of our team last year — but they’re talented and Coach Engellant does a great job with them,” said first -year Tech head coach Kerie DePell. “They know how to win... That helps at the end of the game to have the confidence to know you’re going to win.” DePell guided her team to a 6-7 nonconference ledger, capped by a 79-62 win over Whitworth College on Dec. 29, and said her team is beginning to jell just at the right time.
“We have some great shooters and I think our post play is coming alive,” DePell said.
Four players average in double-figure scoring for Tech led by Rebecca Gimeno with 13.8 points per game followed by twin sister Angela Gimeno with 13.2, Jessie DePell with 12.2 and Jenessa Todd with 10.2. Todd leads the Orediggers in rebounds with 7.11 boards per game.
“Tech is a very good team and much better than their record indicates,” Engellant said. “The Gimeno twins are tremendous players and do so many things well. Jessie DePell is a great shooter and they have been getting good production from their post players as well.” “We had three tough practices this week,” DePell said. “But they were probably three of our best practices of the year, so we feel pretty good going in.” The games will be broadcast in Butte on KBOW 550 AM radio, the women live and the men tape-delayed following the Butte High boys’ game. Both games will also be available via Webcast from the Montana Western Web site.
— Montana Western Sports Information contributed to this article.
