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PREP NOTEBOOK: Dodson's Lonebear snaps his bus driver's 38-year-old scoring record
Lee Vernoy
When the Dodson Coyotes faced Nashua in a District 3C game this past Thursday, Corbin Lonebear didn't feel any differently than he normally would on a game night.
The Coyotes' bus driver, Skip Cole, never gave it a thought, but he did tell Lonebear that his junior teammate, Shaun Ball, didn't make it to the game and that he'd have to step up.
And head coach Frank Benson paid some extra attention to Lonebear's numbers.
Just another District 3C boys' basketball game in this Hi-Line community of 123 inhabitants, a half-hour east of Fort Belknap Agency and 18 miles west of Malta?
Not hardly.
Lonebear lit up the scoreboard for 45 points Thursday night as the Coyotes outscored the Porcupines 78-57. Those 45 points established a new Dodson High School record for most points scored in a single game, one that was set in January, 1981 by Skip Cole.
As in Skip Cole, Dodson's bus driver.
It took Lonebear, a 6-4 junior who can jump out of a building on a single bound, a little bit of time to realize what he had done.
"I honestly didn't know there was a record like that," Lonebear said. "And I didn't know it was Skip who held the record."
"It couldn't have happened to a better kid," Cole, who watched the proceedings unfold, said. "I'm glad that I was able to witness it."
Benson, who is in his third year of his second stint as coach of the Coyotes, has had a front row seat to Lonebear's development in basketball.
"Between 2013 and 2016, Dodson never won a game," Benson said. "Corbin was a freshman in 2016-17, and he was starting to get good, but he couldn't touch the rim that year.
"This year, he worked hard in the offseason. We live next door to each other, and his stepdad is the janitor at the school, so Corbin goes in to work on his game. His stepdad has said that Corbin has stayed in the gym shooting free throws until midnight."
He also played in a summer basketball league, and it has paid off.
In 2016-17, the Coyotes broke their losing schnide, earning two wins. They went 11-11 when Corbin was a sophomore. Now, the Coyotes are 3-2, losing only to District 3C rivals Scobey and Froid-Medicine Lake.
Friday night, Lonebear notched 27 points against the Turner Tornadoes in a win. Two games, 72 points. Not bad for 64 minutes of work.
And that kid who couldn't touch the rim as a freshman can now bring down the house with a slam dunk.
"I started gaining confidence when I was a freshman," Lonebear, a straight-A student, said. "I noticed I was able to shoot the ball when I was younger; I just needed the confidence."
"He's got some incredible talent," Cole said. "And he can do better; he's a versatile player. he can handle the rock and play anywhere on the floor.
"He just needed the confidence to be able to step up and take over."
So why did Benson pay particular attention to Lonebear's stats Thursday night?
"We were playing Nashua last year, when Shaun and Corbin were sophomores," Benson recalled. "Ball had 38 points after three quarters, but when Nashua brought in their JV team, I pulled Shaun out of the game."
"I had some 30-point games last year," Lonebear added. "This year I have a better mentality on the floor.
"I feel good about the record. (Laughs) It will give the school a way to remember me."
Cole said Lonebear is a lot like him; so much that he does something that Cole used to do as a player.
"We have a road running south of Dodson that's paved for about nine miles," Cole added. "When I was Corbin's age, I'd say that I was going 'out to the end of the oil,' where the pavement ended, and run all the way back.
"Corbin does the same thing: he goes out to the end of the oil, turns around and runs all the way back, all nine miles."
Benson also said that, while the Coyotes were a very good basketball team in the '60s, Dodson has never qualified for the state Class C boys' basketball tournament (which was first played in the 1949-50 season).
Maybe ... ?
Prep Notebook is compiled and written by Tribune Sports Writer Lee Vernoy. Call him at (406) 791-6569, email him at lvernoy@greatfallstribune.com, and follow him on Twitter at @GFTrib_LVernoy.