Cowboys Work For Better Results

Culbertson’s boys’ basketball team will have a different look this season under new head coach Mark Pederson.

“I’ve been real happy with their attitudes,” Pederson said of pre-season practices. “The kids have been working hard.”

Returning varsity players with the most court time include James Kirkaldie, Isaiah Bighorn, Maurice Bighorn, Payton Perkins, Kobe Nickoloff, Ethan Pirkle and Colin Avance.

Perkins and Avance are expected to be among the squad’s top scoring threats.

“Payton will be tough,” Pederson said. “Colin will be solid.”

The coach feels the success of Culbertson’s football program during the fall will carry over to basketball this winter.

“We don’t talk much about winning or losing. We talk about being competitive a lot,” Pederson said. “It won’t be pretty, but I think we will be pretty successful. It’s like football, we will grind and pound it and see what happens.”

Expect the Cowboys to play a physical style of basketball.

“We’re just going to come out and battle,” Pederson said. “We’re trying to learn patience. We want to improve on defense and rebounding.”

The coach sees Froid/Lake as the pre-season favorite in the conference. He also expects Fairview and Plentywood to be near the top of the standings.

“I think that it will be pretty competitive,” Pederson said. “I think teams will get better as the season goes. Everybody has a couple of decent players.”

The Cowboys will travel to Richey on Friday, Dec. 3, and host Fairview on Saturday, Dec. 4.

The district tournament is Feb. 14-19 in Sidney, and the divisional tournament starts March 2 in Sidney.