Our Town SlideShow: Cheering on the basketball teams

As competitors for the local high school, athletes often find themselves on the pages of a newspaper’s sports section. Beyond the basketball court, however, there are also the cheer squads that do their best to root classmates to victory while keeping the crowd in the game.

The cheer squads and Libby High School and Troy High School feature a visible group of students that enjoy their roles on the athletic scene. The kids work hard to come up with routines and yells to put pep into Logger and Trojan fans.

Each cheer squad has its own traditions. For example, the Logger cheerleaders form a ring around the athletes at center-court following player introductions. In Troy, the squad marches out the United States, Montana and Trojan flags to the beat of a drum and presents them to the crowd for the national anthem.

Jen McElmurry serves as adviser for the LHS cheer squad. Members include Chelsea Ahart, Kaya Hardgrove, Shelby Murer, Courtney Nicklay, Stacey Oedewaldt, Bethany Riddle, Cierra Stehlik, Courtney Wilkonski and Corey Willis.

Dusti Thompson heads up the program at Troy. Cheer squad members include Gabe Erickson, Kari Jo Heyne, Jeremiah Johnson, Greg Lundin, Ashley Morkeberg, Destiny Tallmadge and Ashley Taylor.