-
Hi Guest, want to participate in the discussions, keep track of read/unread posts access private forums and more? Create your free account and increase the benefits of your eGriz.com experience today!
Missoula Hellgate Is Best MT High School Team I've Ever Seen
- Thread starter PlayerRep
- Start date
Montana has many good high school teams. We are West fans, Hardin fans and fans of the Missoula schools. Montana has a tradition of excellent athletic talent in all sports. I just read about a man from Roundup that competed in several sports, including boxing. I can’t recall his name.
ilovethecats
Well-known member
Golly gee willakers. I love this topic every year!
Hellgate is ridiculous this year. It’s always tough speculating year to year, different decades etc. But this team is real nice.
In regards to the imaginary Hardin/Hellgate matchup, I’d give the nod to Hellgate. But it’d be a hell of a game. Left Hand is one of those “must see” kids. His game is so smooth. His work is evident.
Like most years, the debates of who’d win in cross-class games always cones down to depth. Many times the lower classes just don’t have it. Not an insult, just a numbers game. So while Hardin may go 10 deep as was mentioned, 3-4 of those kids wouldn’t see the floor for a team like Hellgate this year.
In the end it’s just a bunch of kids playing ball and having a blast. I’ll say though, I made a weekend out of traveling just to see Left Hand play and wasn’t disappointed. Driving back home I was actually wondering why he wasn’t gonna be a Cat or Griz. I feel they both missed out.
Hellgate is ridiculous this year. It’s always tough speculating year to year, different decades etc. But this team is real nice.
In regards to the imaginary Hardin/Hellgate matchup, I’d give the nod to Hellgate. But it’d be a hell of a game. Left Hand is one of those “must see” kids. His game is so smooth. His work is evident.
Like most years, the debates of who’d win in cross-class games always cones down to depth. Many times the lower classes just don’t have it. Not an insult, just a numbers game. So while Hardin may go 10 deep as was mentioned, 3-4 of those kids wouldn’t see the floor for a team like Hellgate this year.
In the end it’s just a bunch of kids playing ball and having a blast. I’ll say though, I made a weekend out of traveling just to see Left Hand play and wasn’t disappointed. Driving back home I was actually wondering why he wasn’t gonna be a Cat or Griz. I feel they both missed out.
ilovethecats said:
Great post and like I always said these are the best two teams. I would love to see them play. The beauty of basketball and why the NCAA tournament and high school tournaments are so awesome is that anything could happen. Left Hand is an incredible player and an honor roll student. Rocky got a gem. But he went out tonight in the championship game and Hardin was up one in the 3rd. He didn't return and they won by 13. This team is deep and so much fun to watch. For a pretty cheap subscription at https://www.nfhsnetwork.com you can watch all tournaments.
anchorage ak
Active member
UncleRico said:
Hellgate 74
Hardin 39 final
They’d get literally destroyed on the glass — their guard play is okay but inside they’d get rocked. Left hand is good but he’ll probably just do okay in the Frontier. I’m not sure if he’s athletic enough to be exceptionally effective, but I could be wrong.
Exactly. Don’t know why Rico thinks Hardin is hanging when Hellgate makes Hardin look like a freshman team in size comparison, to go along with 2 D1 players, more athleticism, and being ranked the 53rd best high school basketball team in the country, all though that is a bit too high for me, Hardin isn’t keeping it within 25 or 30 points.anchorage said:
https://mobile.twitter.com/jordyhansen/status/1233999669036015622
anchorage said:
That is wrong on every level. You have nothing to base any of that on other than some stereotype that these are "skinny Indian kids." They are athletic as hell. Left Hand is a top 2-3 player in the state. Hellgate's big guys would have defend 25 feet from basket because they have 10 guys that can hit 3's. The idea that you think Hardin would only score 39 when they are averaging 83 is pretty laughable. There is a difference between classes but not nearly as big as you think. Hardin is better than every team Hellgate plays this year. Without exception.
UMFan12 said:
Hellgate by far best team in AA. The best high school team they would play in the state of Montana would be Hardin. Not to knock Hellgate but if you look at Western AA it is pretty obvious that it is very weak overall. The best AA teams on the other side of state (West, Great Falls High, Skyview) are not as good as Hardin. If you ask those Billings coaches they would agree that Hardin is very good. They have some solid kids that are very versatile in the 6'2 to 6'4 range so they are hardly freshman size. Subscribe to the nfhs site and catch a game of theirs at state tournament and I think you would have more respect for them.
anchorage ak
Active member
I watched the Hardin vs. Billings Central game and it reaffirmed my opinion that they’d have little chance of playing with Hellgate. My biggest reason for that is that they’d get beat up so badly on the boards. That and I felt like they did a mediocre to poor job defending their own basket.
Having said that, they do a nice job of giving strong initial full court pressure and they move the ball nicely on offense and their offensive players are skilled and have high b-ball IQ’s.
They’d have to get out of their full court press against a good team. It’s a fun argument we’re having here, I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree.
I’ve watched Hays coached Hellgate teams for many years and one thing they never do is give up easy buckets. And this year’s Knights team is outstanding in defending their basket with Rollie and Abe basically enforcing their will out there and setting the tone on that end of the floor.
Having said that, they do a nice job of giving strong initial full court pressure and they move the ball nicely on offense and their offensive players are skilled and have high b-ball IQ’s.
They’d have to get out of their full court press against a good team. It’s a fun argument we’re having here, I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree.
I’ve watched Hays coached Hellgate teams for many years and one thing they never do is give up easy buckets. And this year’s Knights team is outstanding in defending their basket with Rollie and Abe basically enforcing their will out there and setting the tone on that end of the floor.
What "Hot Pocket" is your favorite?
Never understood where your terrible reputation on Egriz came from. Thank you, I do now. As for your statement, lmao read the title of the thread. This isn’t about Hardin. This is about Hellgate and the fact they currently sit at #53 nationally, and are one of the greatest MT high school teams of all time. They have the 2 best players in the state, along with another top 5 player, the best offense and the best defense in the state, a well known and well weathered coach, and the depth to blow anybody on the state of Montana regardless of class out by at they very least 30 points. Yes, Hardin may be there best competition in Montana, but that’s not to say the game would be even relatively close provided Hellgate keeps their foot on the gas, which they have only done once or twice all season.PlayerRep said:
12, you keep talking about Hellgate’s national ranking. Please explain exactly what that means. There isn’t any head to head competition against national teams, is there? It’s great to be recognized as a good team, but come on, they are a good Montana team, that’s it!
grizonbob said:
Nope, Lewis was much earlier. He graduated from Duke in about 1968. I’m thinking of Bryan Flaig, Kirk Rocheleau, Benny DeMers, Hal Wiltgen, Dan Mitchell, Mike Morris, Steve DeMers, etc.
It would be fun to watch the game. I was impressed how Hardin rallied after Left Hand got hurt. Hellgate would definitely have advantage on the boards. No doubt but their big guys would have to run the court also. It would be a contrast in styles.Which is one reason basketball is such a great game.anchorage said: