Coach Brodie Kelly knows how to get the best out of his Maroons

This evening the Butte Central Maroons will have their hands full with the Columbia Falls WildKats in the first round of the Western A Divisional Basketball Tournament being played in Whitefish, so it is definitely a bit premature to start talking about the State Tournament which will tip off next Thursday in Billings.  But Butte Central Head Coach Brodie Kelly just seems to find a way to get his teams to state tournaments regardless of size, height or even sometimes speed.  When they get there, they are always a team to contend with.

Brodie Kelly has had a direct hand in three of Butte Central's seven State Championships, once as a junior starter on the 1992 team and as the head coach of the 2020 team that shared the title with Hardin and the 2022 team that beat the buzzer on a three pointer by Dougie Peoples that still has Maroons fans amazed. Although Kelly has had some incredible talent to work with over recent years, it is not just having superstars on some of his teams that has given Kelly success.  It is the way he gets average players to outperform and more so, it is the way Kelly is able to get the most out of the team that he is given, getting them to play well together.

It has been said many times by many different people that Brodie Kelly's teams play just like Brodie Kelly did as a player and that is definitely true.  Kelly was rarely the tallest or biggest player on the floor, yet he always defended the other team's top player.  He would also more times than not get the better of them.  Not just as a Maroon but later in his career as a star on the Montana Tech Orediggers.  As a coach, he's not one for tricks, either.  When you play a Brodie Kelly team, you know that you're going to be up against man-to-man defense and a motion offense.  Not a lot of surprises.  But the way his teams play is the X-factor.  They hustle. They play smart.  They play to their advantages.  They play as a team.

Brodie Kelly is wrapping up his 21st season at the helm of the Maroons.  18 of those seasons saw the Maroons in the State A Tournament.  They have won 2 championships and have played for the title 4 times.  The last six seasons, they have been involved in the trophy round.  This year's Maroons come into the tournament as the third seed out of the Southwest with an overall record of 9-9.  The squad is coming together as a team at tournament time as is the norm with Kelly-coached teams and we will know by Saturday if this year's edition will continue their run at State.