Season Preview Ranger Basketball: It's Coen Brahams time to shine.

Jon Durgan, Isaac Ramirez, Tristan Watts, and Jaxson White, will be depended on. A healthy Weston Vincent brings an edge to the court.

Park High Junior Coen Braham will help lead the Rangers, hoping to grow under a new coaching staff.

By: Jeff Schlapp

In January 2023, the Lockwood Lions visited Park High in Livingston to play the Park High Rangers. The Lions would finish their season 15-7, missing out on a state appearance with a season-ending loss to Billings Central 59-50 in Divisionals. Head Coach Bobby Anderson’s team was stacked with 6’7” Caleb Cole, 6’3” point guard Tyce Casterline, and 6’5” shooting guard Weston Means. They were good and knew it. They played above the rim - non-stop. And they were cocky.

Lockwood defeated Shepard the night before the Ranger game by 41 points.

The Rangers won their first game against Whitefish in overtime, 75-73, but they would lose the rest of the season. They were 1-7 when Lockwood came to town.

On January 13, a large crowd crowded into the Park High gym. I recall telling Coach Dickerson it was the largest I had seen. The fans cheered on the Lady Rangers, who lost to the Lady Lions 71-41, and they stuck around for the boy’s game, which tipped at 7:30 p.m. I recall a feeling of doom as the Lions practiced in pre-game. They were tall, talented, quick, and, well, as I said, talented.

That night, a group of Rangers led by Ryan Brown, Kimball Smith, John King, Calvin Caplis, and Brooks Smith, coached by Kyle Neibauer, forget about the height disparity, fought, clawed, and barked with Lockwood for four quarters. The student section, energized by an early Cole missed dunk attempt, which resulted in a fast break by the Rangers and pullup three by Caplis, screamed with every momentum swing.

With 35 seconds left in the first half, Ryan Brown met Casterline at midcourt, bellied up against him, and hounded the star guard until he picked his pocket and went in for the layup, and the Rangers were down by one at the half.

It was the singular best play I’ve seen in a Ranger basketball game during my four years of coverage. They would lose that game, but with 48 seconds left, they had the ball looking to take the lead. The Rangers did leave it all on the court that night.

Why go back in time when writing a season preview? The Rangers will need to battle in every game with effort for 32 minutes, like that night on January 13. They will all need to dig deep, with each player finding that extra reserve, the will and desire that Ryan Brown displayed, deep inside them.