Last year at the University of Montana’s basketball stadium, Sentinel and Hellgate stood under the bright, flashing lights. The two schools were antsy and awaiting for who would come out as the victor of the Golden GOAT, also called “Gertie” by all. Once the victor was called, the large, quiet stadium broke into loud cheers.
Though Hellgate won both of the basketball games, Sentinel won “Gertie” for the first time in five years. This accomplishment has been longed for by the players and coaches, along with the student body at Sentinel High School for many years.
Winning the Golden GOAT is a tremendous accomplishment. In order to win, the schools competing must show more school spirit than the other team. The scoring is based off of the marks the multiple judges give by listening to the crowd and watching the half-time show. By winning the GOAT, it shows how much sportsmanship and spirit the school has.
The most recent GOAT Game occurred on February 7, 2025 with Big Sky High School and Sentinel High School competing in the Adam’s Center, same place that Sentinel had won last year. Multiple students at Sentinel couldn’t help but dress up and show off their pride for the week of the game and at the game itself.
The school hosted a fun week of dressing up, some of the themes including, but not limited to: wearing jerseys, make a splash, gold rush, purple reign, and camouflage. Make a splash was a beach theme, gold rush was a gold wearing day, and purple reign was a purple and royalty theme.
Multiple students adore the themes and love participating in the week, and there are many benefits of it. By participating, students get to be a part of a joyous and festive activity that makes them feel a part of a larger community. These students may even find themselves making new friends through matching costumes by coincidence.
This sentiment is oftentimes shared with the teachers. When wandering down the hallways at Sentinel, students can see their own teachers dressing up along with them, participating in the activity and sharing their joy with the community.
“I like dressing up for it,” Savannah Faller, a sophomore at Sentinel High school claims. “In middle school, nobody wants to do it. But in high school, everybody does it. It’s kind of like a tradition.”
Faller talked excitedly about some of her favorite themes, especially the jersey day. She explained how she and her father would always cheer for a certain football team that never does well. However, she still finds herself thrilled at being able to support her and her fathers favorite football team.
Through celebrating everyone’s differences during spirit week, the student bodies are more willing to compete with each other. By putting aside their different personalities and warming up to the differences, students and teachers rally together to form a connected unit.
It’s not just the fun traditions that bring the students in the school together. The GOAT Game is full of rules that rely on good sportsmanship, as well as camaraderie within these different communities, and the best way to show off, is to show up.
One of the most important audiences for both schools participating in the game, aside from the student section, is the pep band. Multiple students, teachers, and players appreciate the band when they come out to these events. Both band students and basketball players claim that the band brings an additional joy to the game outside of the sporting event.
Lewis Nelson, the band teacher at Sentinel, had explained that, “The band has a lot to do with the Golden GOAT game because the pep band plays during timeouts and whatnot. We’re not as competitive as the student body, but we count as numbers.”
The more students that show up for the game, participate in the halftime show, and the participate in the cheers often dictate how well the schools are graded by the judges. The judges give points for how well the student sections preform these tasks. Even if the basketball teams lose one or both games, there is still a chance for the school to win the Golden GOAT through the schools’ collective spirit.
Sentinel experienced this last year from losing both of the games. Despite losing,, Sentinel still came out on top with Gertie.
This year, Sentinel’s theme was Purple Reign. The students wore crowns, capes, and even sashes. Occasionally, one could even find a sporadic foam sword in the student section that was waving around wildly.
Sentinel’s halftime show played during the girl’s basketball game, and multiple students, parents, teachers, and even future Spartans found themselves participating. It started with an announcement to the crowd, and then turned into multiple segments of different performances with varying performers. During each performance, each school makes an announcement to the crown portrating how much they want Gertie, and is an essential part of the judging process.
Numerous people who participated in the halftime show loved it, finding a sense of camaraderie and home within their community.
“We’re really collegial and they’re super nice people and I respect them as professionals,” Mrs. Allison, an English teacher at Sentinel started, “but when you’re dancing with people, it’s a different level of connection. That’s super fun.”
Mrs. Allison also explained how she as a teacher personally loves participating in these kinds of activities and events. “I like it when students teach things, because it’s a good reminder for me as a teacher that not everything comes easily. It’s a good reminder that we all have different strengths and weaknesses.”
As always, there are those that choose not to participate in the halftime show, but watch instead. This year, the student body, with most choosing to watch the show rather than participate. However, last year, more Sentinel students chose to participate in the show. Most students claimed that Big Sky would be easy to defeat, however, the results of Friday’s game showed otherwise.
Big Sky’s theme this year was Rio, based off of the movie. Rio is a tropical themed movie about two blue macaws escaping a maniac bird and poacher in order to return to their home and family. In order to match their theme, Big Sky dressed up as tropical birds.
Due to Big Sky High School having a larger student section, as well as a larger student body participating in their halftime show, they had won Gertie.
Their show was a display of colors and synced movements. Their transitions were fluid, and their use of bright colors and the lights had brought the crowd to awe.
While it was an unfortunate loss for Sentinel, everyone has to recognize that the game was well fought, and brought a multitude of different communities together.
These games do much more than provide a cross-town competition for the basketball players, ehe game over Gertie brings different people together to fight for a common goal: to win the GOAT.
