EAST HELENA — As far as debuts go, things went pretty well in East Helena Friday night.
It was the first-ever varsity action for the boys and girls basketball teams against Class B's Deer Lodge. And on their home court, packed with fans for the first time, the Vigilantes notched two historic wins 74-42 (boys) and 57-47 (girls) for the first varsity wins in program history.
"I'm so excited," East Helena girls basketball player Natell Goodman said. "In our first varsity game, I just never thought I'd be here. It's a great feeling."
East Helena was in control for most of the game against Deer Lodge in the girls game and built a 22-point lead at one point thanks to 11-first half points from Reagan Fasbender, which included a trio of 3-pointers.
"It felt good," Fasbender said of the hot start. "It wasn't something I was expecting. But once I hit the first one, I wanted to keep going and it gave me confidence, so I just kept shooting."
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Goodman also added six points in the first half, yet she also picked up three fouls. But at the break, East Helena was in front 30-18.
However, the Wardens refused to go away and were able to hang around thanks to Taryn Lamb, who scored 23 points on the night, 15 of which came in the second half with 10 coming in the third quarter.
Those 10 points helped the Wardens eventually pull even before a 4-0 spurt to close the third quarter put East Helena back up 39-35.
Then, Goodman put a stamp on the win, stealing the ball and going the length of the floor to score twice early in the final stanza, extending the lead from four to eight in less than a minute.
"When I get in foul trouble, I get down on myself a lot," she said. "It's hard for me to come back, but my teammates were there and I just told myself 'I could do it. I'm going to score and change the whole game around.'"
She did just that and from there, the Vigilantes wouldn't look back and held on for the win. Goodman finished with a team-high 12 which tied her with teammate Montana Pierson, who was a steady presence throughout for East Helena, scoring six points each half. Pierson was also active on the glass, leading the Vigilantes with a total of eight.
Fasbender also managed 11, a total matched by Dymon Root. Ella Pickett also scored eight and connected on two treys.
"I think it's great for a young team to be able to ride the rollercoaster and pull it together when it counts," East Helena girls head coach Carson Bender said. "That's pretty awesome for them. I'm super happy for those kids and really proud."
While the girls game had some back and forth, there wasn't much in the boys contest, which was first on the docket.
Deer Lodge hit a pair of 3-pointers to take an early 6-2 lead on East Helena, but the Vigilantes responded in kind, with a 9-0 run and got a 3-pointer from Colter Charlesworth, as well as eight first-quarter points from Curtis Corzine as they built a 21-8 lead.
"We have been waiting for three years to get on this and get going," Charlesworth said. "And I think we proved ourselves. There were probably a lot of doubters but we showed them what we got and there is more to come."
Following a 21-point first quarter, in which the Vigilantes dominated the offensive glass and the painted area, East Helena went to work from 3-point range.
The Vigilantes were able to find some openings in Deer Lodge's 1-3-1 zone and Kaeden Sager, a transfer from Deer Lodge, was able to take advantage with three consecutive triples in the second stanza on his way to 18 points.
"It was awesome," Sager said. "The funny thing is, that's my former school. I transferred from there a couple of years ago, so it just makes it that much more fun to compete. But it was incredible."
The 3-point makes allowed the Vigilantes to lead 38-18 at intermission and halftime did little to slow them down and although Deer Lodge trimmed the lead a little, making it 50-34 after three quarters, East Helena remained in control.
One reason for that was the clutch shooting of Charlesworth, who connected on two treys and scored 10 points in the fourth as East Helena pulled away for the 22-point win, which allowed head coach Ty Ridgeway to pull his starters for the final two minutes.
"It's awesome to start a culture like that," Sager said. "Everyone was into it, the fans were into it and it was awesome sitting down knowing that we we were going to get our first varsity win."
Four Vigilantes reached double figures in the boys game led by Charlesworth's 19 points. Sager had 18 and Kobe Mergenthaler added 16. Colter Corzine also pitched in with 11 points.
"We played Deer Lodge last year, their varsity team as a JV team," Ridgeway said. "And we got beat by 30, but we were playing against seniors and us being sophomores. And Kaeden Sager used to play for them, so there was a little redemption."
And the key to all that? Defensive stops.
"I think we got 28 stops tonight," Ridgeway said. "If you get stops, you can go down, push the ball, and fast break, and that's what we did. We executed well, attacked the basket, took care of the ball and was just a great team effort. I'm so proud of these guys right now."
Chris is the sports editor and lead preps reporter for the Independent Record and 406mtsports.com. Follow him on Twitter @cmpetey406