Stillwater Takes State
It came down to a few shots by junior Luke Frampton, but the Cougars downed their undefeated rivals for the MCAA title
By Micah Drew
At the Montana Christian Athletic Association (MCAA) state basketball final, Billings Christian got out to a 13-0 lead over Stillwater Christian. The Billings team hadn’t lost a single game in three years, and from the start showed no intention of breaking that streak.
“That’s how they win games,” Stillwater coach Andrew Harrell said. “They have the mentality to try and remove all hope in the first quarter. But it’s a 32-minute game, not just a two-minute battle and the guys I have are fighters. They just don’t give up.”
Slowly and consistently, the Stillwater Cougars began to claw their way back into contention.
“Our mindset was definitely that we were the underdogs and needed to prove ourselves,” said junior Luke Frampton. “I remember telling my teammates, you know, they’re just kids too. These aren’t gods that we’re playing.”
With 3.2 seconds left on the clock, the Cougars were down by three when Coach Harrell drew up a play to try to get Frampton clear to shoot a three, but he was fouled instead.
Frampton was given three shots, and he stepped up to the free throw line with the chance to send the game to overtime if he sunk each one.
“When I practice on my own I’ll go into 20 or 25 minutes of just shooting free throws,” Frampton said. “As I was going to the line I told myself not to guide it in or think about the pressure. You’ve done this for hours and hours of practice, so just let it fly.”
He did, once, twice, thrice into the basket, sending the game into four minutes of overtime. By the end, the Cougars came away with the championship.
Five years ago, it was hard for Frampton to imagine he could be in a game-deciding situation. In middle school, Frampton began having chronic stomach aches, and after going to the doctor for an unrelated reason, decided to see if they knew what was causing it.
Frampton was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, a chronic inflammatory disease that affects the lining of the digestive tract. For months he had difficulty eating food, was rapidly losing weight and had to go on a strict diet.
Eventually he was able to go in for a surgical procedure to remove six inches of inflamed intestines, but what should have been a quick recovery turned into an infection that required emergency surgery.
Frampton spent a month in the hospital and had three major surgeries and at least eight separate procedures.
“I was already skinny as a middle schooler but I lost so much weight during that period,” Frampton said. “Then when I got out, I had no muscle mass. I remember going to The Wave (fitness center) to try and shoot a basketball soon after I got out of the hospital, and I only shot air balls. I didn’t have the muscles to make a basket.”
A few months later, however, he was playing spring travel ball, but found still lacked confidence on the court.
“I didn’t drive to the basket anymore and I only shot when I was wide open,” Frampton said.
It wasn’t until this year, his junior season, that Frampton said he really felt he got his head back in the game and started to see a breakthrough in his overall ability.
“Luke’s just got a lot of talent and all year we’ve been able to see it on the court,” said Harrel. “Add that to some really talented seniors and we’ve got a fast, scrappy hard-working team that played with heart all the way until the end.”
During the four minutes of overtime in the state final, Stillwater went back and forth with Billings until Frampton once again found himself on the line. The Cougars were up by three, so the pressure this time around was substantially lessened.
Frampton made one of his two free throws, making it a two-possession game with just 13 seconds go. A missed three-pointer by Billings Christian sent the Cougars screaming into a victory huddle.
“We soaked coach with a jug of water in the locker room afterwards,” Frampton said. “Next year we’re definitely going for the repeat.”
“Sometimes I wonder how good I could have been if I hadn’t lost that confidence,” Frampton added. “But I’m just super thankful that I’m able to keep working hard every day. I don’t take being on the court for granted.”
