AROUND THE NATION
March 10, 2010
Words of Encouragement for Montana Star
 As
championship games go, it was shaping up to be a
pretty dull affair. Weber State went into halftime
up by 20 on Montana in the Big Sky Tournament title
game on Wednesday night. And honestly, Montana was
lucky to even be that close.
The Grizzlies had shot 28% in the first half and
turned it over 14 times. I was wondering if these
guys would clear the 40-point barrier for the GAME.
Playing on its home floor and with a 15th NCAA
Tournament bid seemingly secured, it was all
butterflies and tulips for Weber State as they
emerged from the locker room for the second half.
That's when Montana's Anthony Johnson went all Pale
Rider on the Wildcats.
In a second half performance rivaling the greatest
scoring efforts in the history of the game, Johnson
produced the following stat line:
11-for-14 FG's, 2-for-3 3FG's, 10-for-10 FT's, 34
points
His 42 points on the game was an outburst the likes
of which hadn't been seen from a Montana player
since Michael Ray Richardson had a 40-point effort
back in 1976.
Amazingly, the senior guard from Tacoma scored the
last 21 points of the game for Montana.
Think about that for a second. At a certain point
coming down the stretch, everyone in the building -
Weber State's players and coaches, the fans,
concession stand workers, both mascots, security
guards - knew Johnson was going to shoot it. And
nobody could do anything about it.
His layup with just over a minute left gave the Griz
their first lead of the night. His last hoop, a
jumper with 11 ticks remaining, secured a 66-65 win
and got his team a spot in sport's greatest
spectacle.
Give credit to his teammates for knowing when to get
out of the way. Only nine shots were hoisted by
Grizzlies other than Johnson in the second half.
But the credit for him even being in a Montana
uniform should go to his wife Shaunte, who averages
2.8 points a game this season playing for the Lady
Griz.
Back in 2005, Anthony was going nowhere. Seriously,
he was stuck in Tacoma after an unremarkable high
school playing career. To make matters worse, he
barely graduated from Stadium High.
While chilling out at home, he met Shaunte and the
two started dating. Not being a bad hoops player
herself, she saw that he had a little game in him,
too.
Shaunte started her collegiate playing career at
Northwest Nazarene University but quit the team.
Cody Butler, the women's basketball coach at Yakima
Valley Community College, heard she was available.
Butler extended a scholarship offer to Shaunte and
she accepted with one condition: Anthony had to be
given a chance to make the men's team.
The coaches agreed, and upon trying out, Anthony got
his own scholarship offer. He and Shaunte were
married just before the start of the 2006 basketball
season and the rest is history.
It's an understatement to say that Montana fans are
thrilled that Shaunte encouraged her man to keep
playing. And with the Big Sky women's tournament
starting today, she might have a hand in getting the
school another NCAA bid.
John Stansberry is in his thirteenth season as
a senior writer for collegeinsider.com. Check out
John's blog
LonelyTailgater.com.
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