THE M ONTANA S TANDARD Friday, January 6 Women 5:30 p.m. ■ Men 7:30 p.m. Kelvin Sampson Court Westminster at Tech Lewis-Clark State at Tech Westminster at Tech Lewis-Clark State at Tech A publication of The Montana Standard and Montana Tech Conference season begins D3 OFFICIAL PROGRAM Saturday, January 7 Women 5:30 p.m. ■ Men 7:30 p.m. Kelvin Sampson Court Conference season begins Tech men, women start 2012 against Westminster, Lewis-Clark State Tech men, women start 2012 against Westminster, Lewis-Clark State D3
Transcript
THEMONTANA STANDARD
Friday, January 6Women 5:30 p.m. ■ Men 7:30 p.m.
Kelvin Sampson Court
Westminster at Tech Lewis-Clark State at TechWestminster at Tech Lewis-Clark State at Tech
A publication of The Montana Standard and Montana Tech
Conference seasonbegins
D3
OFFICIAL PROGRAM
Saturday, January 7Women 5:30 p.m. ■ Men 7:30 p.m.
Kelvin Sampson Court
Conference seasonbegins
Tech men, women start 2012 against Westminster,Lewis-Clark State
Tech men, women start 2012 against Westminster,Lewis-Clark State
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D2 � THE MONTANA STANDARD, BUTTE, FRIDAY, JANUARY 6, 2012
BY PAT RYANof The Montana Standard
With more than two months of non-conference warm-up games slated forFrontier Conference basketball teams,the beginning of the league slate merelymarks the halfway point of the season.
Records now reset to 0-0, as Frontierteams prepare to battle in what is widelyconsidered one of the toughest NAIAconferences in the country.
“Coming in to the Frontier schedule,we like to say our easiest day was yester-day,” said second-year Tech men’s headcoach Aaron Woliczko. “Our conferenceschedule is tough, and we open withWestminster right out of the gates.They’re No. 10 in the country for a
reason. They’re very tough and they playa tremendous schedule.”
Montana Tech’s women are back aftertheir first two trips to the NAIA NationalTournament, which came in the last twoseasons — the most successful so far forhead coach Kerie DePell.
The Oredigger women finished thirdin the last two Frontier Conference seasons, both times trailingWestminster and Lewis-Clark State,which just happen to be Tech’s opponents in the opening weekend ofleague play.
“L-C State is ranked fourth in thecountry,” DePell observed. “They seempretty high above the rest of the confer-ence, but they’re still beatable. I don’tthink we’re scared, but we respect them.”
Both Tech head coaches also pointedto their Dillon opponents at MontanaWestern as dangerous teams this season.
“From top to bottom, Western is goodand deep,” DePell said of the Bulldog
women’s team. “After that, it’s kind of alog jam in the middle. We’re right therewith Great Falls with the worst records,but I believe we can compete with anyteam in the conference.”
DePell pointed to her team’s per-formance in the final week of the pre-season schedule, where Tech hung withfourth-ranked Vanguard and a talentedAzusa Pacific team.
“It’s obvious to us that we can compete at a high level,” DePell said.“We just need to get our younger playerssome more experience.”
The Oredigger men face a stern testwith this weekend’s opponents, butWoliczko said there are no easy matchesfrom here out. Western’s men’s teamalso drew praise from Tech’s coach.
“When you look at the teams thathave played the best opponents,Westminster and Western are rightthere, and they’re backing it up withgreat wins,”Woliczko said. “They’re well
prepared for playing in what might bethe best conference in the country. TheFrontier sent three teams to the nationaltournament last year and it’s got a goodchance to send four this year.”
THE MONTANA STANDARD, BUTTE, FRIDAY, JANUARY 6, 2012 � D3
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BY PAT RYANof The Montana Standard
Montana Tech is poised to break out.The Oredigger men are coming off a
very successful 8-3 preseason run, winningtheir last four in a row under second-yearhead coach Aaron Woliczko.
The Orediggers have already eclipsedtheir number of wins from last season,when they went 6-22 overall, and sightshave been set high.
Montana Tech opens Frontier playFriday at home with the arrival of No. 10Westminster.
“We’ll be coming out the gates playingone of the top teams in the country,”Woliczko said.
The Orediggers have done all possible toprepare for the conference grind, havingworked through the stretched-out pre-season schedule. Tech has played well in all 11 games, including the two exhibition winsand the one exhibition loss to Montana.
Some of Tech’s more telling wins this
season have come in close games. TheOrediggers have won all five of their gamesdecided by five or fewer points.
“The guys have really stepped up, espe-cially in those close ones,” Woliczko said.“We’ve put ourselves in the position to beable to win in the last 3-4 minutes. We’vebeen getting the stops on defense andrebounding the ball. And then we’reknocking down the free throws, especiallydown the stretch.”
Tech looks to a solid group of seniors,including Butte High product Cole Conwayand guards A.J. Paine and Tyree Haynie.
“We’ve got a heck of a senior group,”Woliczko said. “Cole and A.J. have been apart of Montana Tech basketball the lastfour years and they are showing great pridein trying to go out successfully. Tyree is theoutspoken vocal leader, while Cole and A.J.are more of the lead-by-example guys.”
Tech has seen great play from freshmenAdam Greger and Brandon Rydberg, asGreger is leading the team in scoring at 11.6 points per game.
“I think Adam Greger was the steal ofthe Frontier Conference this year,”Woliczko said. “Some of the ‘higher level’places who passed on this guy are going tobe kicking themselves in the future.”
Daniel Simon was originally recruited byL-C State as a point, but has since convert-ed to forward, where he has made greatstrides in the new position.
“Daniel’s working on finishing inside,but he can still play on the perimeter,”Woliczko said.
See ’DIGGERS, Page D5
’Diggers primed for FrontierNAIA Men’s Basketball Poll
Southwestern Assemblies of God (Texas) 50, Columbia(Mo.) 40, Montana Western 31, Cumberland (Tenn.) 19,Oklahoma Christian 17, Shawnee State (Ohio) 14,MidAmerican Nazarene (Kan.) 6, Baker (Kan.) 5,Westmont (Calif.) 5, Great Falls 1, Lee (Tenn.) 1, HopeInternational (Calif.) 1, Oklahoma City 1, Spring Hill (Ala.)1, Voorhees (S.C.) 1, Pikeville (Ky.) 1.
“I think Adam Greger was the stealof the Frontier Conference this year.Some of the ‘higher level’ places who
passed on this guy are going to bekicking themselves in the future.”
Tech coach Aaron Woliczko
’Diggers ...Continued from Page D4
Simon, at 6-foot-6, also leads theteam in blocks this season.
Butte Central product TannerNeumann was credited with playing 100 percent, 100 percent of thetime.
“Tanner’s done a tremen-dous job playing hard,” Woliczkosaid. “He’s the the reason we wonsome games last year, just getting afinger on the ball.”
Transfer player Brian Cummingsbrings “flash and pizazz,” Woliczkosaid.
“Brian can be a great shooterand great scorer, but now he’slearning some defense,”the coach added. “He’sbeen taking charges,sacrificing himself, and he’s showndefense that’s been impressive.”
Reed Baerlacher redshirted last year,and has seen some quality minutes offthe bench.
The Orediggers have lost a few players, but the toughest to take wasthat of sophomore guard Bryan Bock,
who broke his foot.“When they got the X-ray they said it
looked like he played six months on astress fracture,” Woliczko said.
Bock has since undergone surgeryand is preparing to get back in school.
“Bryan was really playing well,”Woliczko said. “He did an unbelievablejob working in the off season. He’s a guywho was playing better than anyone atthe time and had only missed one free
throw at that point.”Woliczko expressed excite-
ment with his stable of redshirtplayers, and is working hard tokeep their extra season intact.
“We’re still in the build-ing process,” he said. “I
want the young guysto have the oppor-
tunity to play four moreyears. I don’t want
them to give up their best year for
their worst.”Recruiting has been a full-time job
for Woliczko and his staff, but the teamis beginning to see the fruit of that labor.The coaching staff has also put incountless hours scouting opponents andformulating game plans.
“We try to do the best we can with
just a few guys to get all the informationwe can,” the coach said. “We never go inblind, and try to do what we need to doto be successful.”
The Orediggers, who have done wellgetting to the free throw line this sea-son, are ranked eighth in the NAIA inpercentage at the stripe with 74. Paineleads the nation in free throw percentageat 92.
The Orediggers also place well inscoring defense and turnover margin.Conway, who has gone out of his way tobecome the team’s leading rebounder,has the team sitting in the nation’s top
50 in total rebound defense.“We’ve got some mentally strong
kids,” Woliczko said. “We’re doing agreat job taking care of the ball andwe’re rebounding well too.”
The Orediggers, who are 3-0 in thefriendly confines of the Kelvin SampsonCourt in the “Great Western” HPERComplex, look forward to even biggercrowds than were seen during preseasoncontests.
“The guys really do appreciate thesupport from the community,” Woliczkosaid. “It means a lot to us when we get acrowd whether we’re winning or not.”
THE MONTANA STANDARD, BUTTE, FRIDAY, JANUARY 6, 2012 � D5
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2011-12
October 14 Grande Prairie Regional College (Exhibition) Butte, MT 8 p.m.15 Grande Prairie Regional College (Exhibition) Butte, MT 7 p.m.27 Black Hills State University Butte, MT 8 p.m.30 Dickinson State University & Butte, MT 3 p.m.
November 11 Coyote Classic:11 Eastern Oregon University Caldwell, ID 6 p.m.12 College of Idaho Caldwell, ID 8 p.m.14 Northwest Nazarene University Nampa, ID 7 p.m.25 Capitol City Tournament:25 Willamette University Salem, OR 4 p.m.26 Corban or Western Oregon Salem, OR TBA
December 7 University of Montana (Exhibition) Missoula, MT 7 p.m.10 Whitworth University Spokane, WA 6 p.m.20 Walla Walla University Butte, MT 7 p.m.29 Perkins Classic:29 Black Hills State University Spearfish, SD 6 p.m.30 South Dakota Tech Spearfish, SD 4 p.m.
January 6 Westminster College *& Butte, MT 7:30 p.m.7 Lewis-Clark State College *& Butte, MT 7:30 p.m.13 Montana State University-Northern *& Havre, MT 8 p.m.14 University of Great Falls *& Great Falls, MT 7:30 p.m.21 University of Montana-Western *& Butte, MT 7:30 p.m.27 Rocky Mountain College *& Butte, MT 7:30 p.m.28 Carroll College *& Butte, MT 7:30 p.m.
February 2 Lewis-Clark State College *& Lewiston, MT 8:30 p.m.4 Westminster College *& Salt Lake City, UT 7:30 p.m.10 University of Great Falls *& Butte, MT 7:30 p.m.11 Montana State University-Northern *& Butte, MT 7:30 p.m.13 Utah Valley University (Exhibition) Orem, UT TBA14 Utah State University (Exhibition) Logan, UT 7:05 p.m.18 University of Montana-Western *& Dillon, MT 7:30 p.m.23 Carroll College *& Helena, MT 8 p.m.25 Rocky Mountain College *& Billings, MT 7:30 p.m.
March 1, 3, 5 Frontier Conference Tournament TBA TBA14-20 NAIA National Tournament Kansas City, MO TBA
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THE MONTANA STANDARD, BUTTE, FRIDAY, JANUARY 6, 2012 � D7
2011-2012 ROSTER
# Player Yr Ht/Wt Pos. Hometown 2 Jessica Sturm So G 5-9 Roy 3 Bryn Hasquet So G 6-0 Missoula 4 Ivana Lacmanovic So G 5-8 Belgrade, Serbia 22 Lisa Laslovich So G 5-7 Anaconda 14 Dannielle Devenny So F 6-0 Perth, Australia20 Brianne McClafferty Sr F 6-0 Butte23 Kelsey DeWit So C 6-2 Columbia Falls24 Shaye Murphy Jr C 6-1 Riverton, Utah 32 Mandy Machinal Fr G 5-7 Richland, Wash.33 Laini Kalumbi So G 5-8 Provo, Utah 34 Tabitha Tomlinson Sr G 5-7 Puyallup, Wash.44 Erika Jenkins Jr C 6-1 Great Falls50 Molly Werder So F 6-2 Port Orchard, Wa.
Head coach: Kerie DePell, fifth season Assistant coach: Lindsie Wilson, first season
Montana Tech womenWestminster women Lewis-Clark women
2011-2012
January 6 Westminster College* Butte 5:30 p.m.7 Lewis-Clark State* Butte 5:30 p.m.13 MSU-Northern* Havre 6 p.m.14 University of Great Falls* Great Falls 5:30 p.m.21 Montana Western* Butte 5:30 p.m.27 Rocky Mountain College* Butte 5:30 p.m.28 Carroll College* Butte 5:30 p.m.
February 2 Lewis-Clark State* Lewiston, ID 7 p.m.4 Westminster College* Salt Lake City, UT 5:30 p.m.10 University of Great Falls* Butte 5:30 p.m.11 MSU – Northern* Butte 5:30 p.m.18 Montana Western* Dillon 5:30 p.m.23 Carroll College* Helena 5:30 p.m.25 Rocky Mountain College* Billings 5:30 p.m.
March 1-3 Frontier Conference Playoffs TBA14-20 NAIA National Tournament Frankfort, Kentucky
* Frontier Conference Games # Exhibition Game~ All game times listed are Mountain Standard Time
MONTANA TECH
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE
2011-2012 ROSTER
# Player Yr Pos. Ht/Wt Hometown 1 Tia Pappas FR G 5-7 Price, Utah 2 Rebecca Beaudoin SO G 5-8 Sandy, Utah 3 Shelby Ellsworth FR G 5-11 Pasco, Wash.4 Megan Smith JR F 5-11 Alpine, Utah 5 Allie Eastman JR G 5-9 Woodruff, Utah 10 Amy Krommenhoek FR G 5-7 American
Fork, Utah 12 Nicole Yazzie JR G 5-7 W.Valley City,
Utah 20 Dana Bates SR F 5-9 Warden, Wash.22 Cydney Tibbitts JR F 6-1 Pasco, Wash.23 Jenteal Jackson SR G 5-7 Salt Lake City 31 Brooke Blonquist FR F 5-11 S.Jordan, Utah32 Olivia Pierce-Eiselein JR F 6-3 Billings 33 Brooke Larsen JR F 6-0 Kearns, Utah
Head coach — Shelley JarrardAssistant coach — Elaine Elliott Assistant coach — Candace Smith
2011-2012 ROSTER
# Player Yr Pos.Ht/Wt Hometown RSShelby Barnes* SO G 5-8 Asotin, Wash.3 Tasha Bishop SR G 5-10 Meridian,
Idaho 10 Annie Kane JR G 5-7 Lapwai, Idaho 11 Kirsi Voshell SR P 6-3 Pullman,
Wash.20 Loree Hill SO F 6-2 Liberty Lake,
Wash.21 Brittaney Niebergall FR G 5-3 Portland, Ore.22 Jasmine Stohr SR G 6-0 Yakima, Wash.23 Kelli Rice FR G 5-7 Springfield,
Ore.24 Tanis Fuller FR F 5-10 Lewiston,
Idaho 31 Alyssa Fierro SR P 6-2 Bigfork, MT 42 McKenzie Heaslet FR P 6-1 Uniontown,
Wash.
Head coach — Brian OrrAssistant coach — Kyle Palmer
D8 � THE MONTANA STANDARD, BUTTE, FRIDAY, JANUARY 6, 2012
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2011-2012# Player Yr Ht/Wt Position Hometown 1 Tyree Haynie RSSr 5’9/170 PG Chico, Calif.3 Tanner Neumann RSJr 6’2/200 G/F Butte4 Bryan Bock So 6’3/190 G Rialto, Calif.5 Cole Conway Sr 6’3/215 F Butte20 Chet Pannabecker RSFr 6’3/185 G Choteau21 Reid Baerlocher RSFr 5’11/175 G Florence22 AJ Paine Sr 6’0/185 G Billings23 Roman Pruneda-Garza Jr 6’1/175 PG Othello, Wash.30 Adam Greger Fr 6’6/195 G/F Florence 33 Brian Cummings RSJr 6’2/180 G Brooklyn, N.Y.34 Trent Thompson RSFr 6’8/235 F/C Plains 40 Brandon Rydberg Fr 6’3/195 G/F Bozeman 44 Daniel Simon RSJr 6’6/215 F Ephrata, Wash.RS Mitch Buerkle Jr 6’0/160 PG Big Timber RS Travis Peevey Jr 6’2/180 G/F MissoulaRS Paul Engstrom Fr 6’7/210 F/C LakeRS Cooper Fink Fr 6’5/175 F Glendive RS Ryan McCarty Fr 6’2/165 G Harrison RS Quinn Smith Fr 6’9/215 C Florence RS Kendale Washington Fr 6’1/175 PG Perris, Calif.
Tech men’s basketball roster
Westminster men’s roster2011-2012
# Player Yr Ht/Wt Position Hometown 1 Alex Drecksel JR 6-4 /195 F Pocatello, Idaho2 Chris Wheelock FR 5-9/165 G Coeur D’Alene, Idaho3 Jake Orchard JR 6-4/200 F Salt Lake City, Utah 5 AJ Reilly SR 5-10/175 G San Diego, Calif.10 Chris Cassity SR 6-0/175 G Sandy, Utah 11 Colton Moon FR 5-11/170 G Burley, Idaho12 Adam Egan SO 5-10/165 G Salt Lake City, Utah 13 Jordan Hayter JR 6-3/190 G Grants Pass, Ore.21 Ben Walker SR 6-7/210 F Lehi, Utah 22 Josh Schouman SR 6-6/215 F Boise, Idaho24 Adam Rainbird SO 6-5/205 F Belnheim, New Zealand 31 Brad Brown SO 6-7/215 F Orono, N.M.32 Marcus Parry SO 6-5/195 F Littleton, Colo 33 Jordan Bjornberg JR 6-5/210 F Blackfoot, Idaho35 Drew Phillips SO 6-4/195 G Brisbane, Australia 41 Jordan Hamilton FR 6-7/210 F Alpine, Utah 42 Tanner Gregory SR 6-6/215 F Provo, Utah
Adam Hiatt — Head Coach, 1st seasonZach Collard — Assistant Coach, 1st seasonJason Long — Assistant Coach, 1st season
2011-2012# Player Yr Position Ht/Wt Hometown
2 Kale Schmidt FR G 6-3/175 Standwood, Wash.3 Chris Hepperly SO G 5-10/180 Sandpoint, Idaho 4 Sean Fischer FR G 6-1/185 Spokane, Wash.5 Jeray Key SR G 6-1/200 Longview, Wash.10 Spencer Drury SO G 6-0 /195 Spokane, Wash.12 Joey Wayman SO G 5-10/173 Hoquiam, Wash.13 Nick Fromm JR F 6-6/255 Coeur d'Alene, Idaho 20 Donte Archie JR G 6-3/183 Los Angeles, Calif.21 Danny Marshall JR F 6-6/205 Spokane, Wash.23 PJ Bolte JR F 6-6/205 Tacoma, Wash.24 Darious Walker SR F 6-6/240 Tacoma, Wash.32 Darin Stewart SR G 6-3/180 Mission Viejo, Calif.34 Ray Stout SR F 6-6/260 Genesee, Idaho
Brandon Rinta - Head Coach - 1st seasonAustin Johnson - Assistant Coach - 2nd seasonDrew Church - Student Assistant - 1st season
Lewis-Clark State men’s roster
THE MONTANA STANDARD, BUTTE, FRIDAY, JANUARY 6, 2012 � D9
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Youth aplenty for Tech womenBY PAT RYAN
of The Montana Standard
Following a successful run last seasonthat culminated in a the team’s secondstraight trip to the NAIA NationalTourney, the Tech women’s basketballteam is looking at a youthful lineup.
“We don’t have a ton of experience,”said head coach Kerie DePell, notingthat her current starting five includes afreshman and three sophomores.
That having been said, DePell ishappy with the quality of players on herteam, and has seen steady improvementin the squad as they have gained experi-ence through the preseason schedule.
“We’re still trying to figure out ourteam identity and what roles we allhave,” DePell said. “Every day in practiceand every time we step on the court Ican see us getting better. We have good
players — we’re just inexperienced.”DePell’s lineup starts with and
depends heavily upon senior point guardTabitha Tomlinson — who has startedsince she arrived at Tech four years ago.
“Tabby’s exactly what a point guardshould be,” DePell said. “She’s an exten-sion of the coach. She has good controlof the game and she’s out there doingeverything I want her to do.”
Opposite the senior leader is fresh-man Mandy Machinal, whom DePellsaid should be high in the running forFreshman of the Year in the Frontier.
“Mandy’s probably our best all-around scorer,” DePell said. “She can hitthe three and get to the basketball. She’svery talented.”
Sophomore guard Bryn Hasquet isDePell’s stand-by, as the 6-footer israrely on the bench.
“Bryn’s one of our best outsideshooters and she’s always a threat,”DePell said. “A lot of times you don’tnotice she’s been in there 38 minutes,
but she’s playing hard the whole time.”Austrailian forward Danni Devenny,
the vocal leader of the team, has noproblem going where she’s needed themost.
“Danni’s very versatile,” DePell said.“She can post up and she can play theperimeter. She fills different roles for usand she brings a lot of energy andenthusiasm.”
Columbia Falls sophomore post
Kelsey DeWit rounds out the startingfive, and has established herself as aninside scoring force thus far in the season.
“Kelsey’s possibly one of best postplayers in the conference,” DePell said.“She’s worked very hard and has alsoreally improved on defense.”
The Orediggers are deeper than five,as senior forward Brianne McClaffertyof Butte has seen starting duty and canplay about anywhere.
“Brianne can play three, four or five,”DePell said. “She’s very versatile and isanother good outside shooter, certainlyone of our main contributors.”
Shaye Murphy is the backup center,but isn’t limited to the inside game.
“Shaye has a really nice outside shotthat helps spread the floor on offense,but she’s also great on defense,” DePellsaid.
Laini Kalumbi is a reserve guard whois getting a handle on her game.
See TECH, Page D10
Orediggers regrouping afterpair of postseason showings “We’re still trying to figure out
our team identity and what roleswe all have. Every day in practice
and every time we step on the court I can see us getting better.
We have good players — we’re just inexperienced.”
Kerie DePell,Montana Tech women head coach
D10 � THE MONTANA STANDARD, BUTTE, FRIDAY, JANUARY 6, 2012
“Laini is our best athlete,” DePell said. “Shehas the quickest first step I’ve ever had on ateam, and she’s just learning how to get the basket and finish with both hands. So far, she’sthe most improved player this year.”
Jessica Sturm comes in as a three and bringshigh energy and a presence on defense. She’sjoined by fellow sophomore guard IvanaLacmanovic, who is nearing recovery from a couple ACL tears.
Erica Jenkins plays a four and has establishedherself as a solid rebounder, while honing heroutside shot.
DePell lamented the loss of Anaconda sopho-more Lisa Laslovich, who tore an ACL Dec. 9 inSeattle.
“Lisa was really coming on strong,” DePellsaid. “She’s very good rebounding and ondefense. It was a big blow to us to have lost her,but she’s working hard to come back next year.”
Despite graduation claiming a number of talented teammates last season, the Orediggersare coming together as a team quite well, saidtheir coach.
“Everyone is stepping up and trying hard to dowhat we ask,” DePell said. “We’ve had to changethat around a bit, but we’re evolving as we go.”
