Montana isn’t known for being a hotbed of high school sports, but the team Missoula Sentinel High put together in 1963-64 was impossible to keep off the list. Interestingly enough, they could have won another state title in 1963, but the school board wouldn’t allow the team to play in the state tournament.
Sentinel went 27-0 and won the 1964 state championship behind 6-foot-8 forward Mike Lewis, who averaged 35 points per game and was a Parade All-American before he starred at Duke, where he was an All-ACC selection and All-American
Lewis played six seasons in the ABA and was an ABA All-Star in 1971, but his career was cut short by an Achilles tendon injury.
Sentinel didn’t win a state championship for almost a decade, before going back-to-back in 1972 and 1973. Sentinel lost in the state championship game three consecutive times before winning it all in 1986 — the 10th state title in school history.
Since 1986, Sentinel has lost in the state championship game three times, in 1987, 1992 and 2008.
