The Breslin Center is big. Bigger than it looks on TV. Bigger than any gym a small town player has ever stepped into. But what made Montague’s 2009 season matter was not the size of the floor or the lights overhead. It was what that run did to a program and what it still demands from every team that follows. Because for Montague basketball, the 2009 season is not just a memory. It is a standard.
Where It Really Began
The state semifinal run in the 2009 season did not begin in March. It began in elementary school.
“I’d say it started in third and fourth grade,” Cody Kater said, “when Coach Gorman and the dads got together to get us into another youth league.”
That decision to leave comfortable local competition and play tougher teams in Muskegon changed the trajectory of the program. Instead of dominating familiar opponents, those kids were forced to defend, pass, execute, and think. They learned quickly that effort alone was not enough when the other team matched intensity. By the time the graduating classes of 2008, 2009, and 2010 reached high school, they were not learning how to win. They expected to.
“All three graduating classes of ’08, ’09, and ’10 all had depth and was used to winning since they were in youth leagues,” Kater said. “But the class of ’09 had strong leadership that kept others in line.”
That expectation built over years is what separated the 2009 season from a typical good year.
A Season Fueled by Belief
The 2009 season did not start in a vacuum. Montague had just won its first football state championship, and belief inside the school had shifted.
“We had just won a state championship in football for the first time, so it was a slow start from what I remember,” Kater said.
But confidence does not disappear when seasons change. It transfers. By the time districts arrived in the 2009 season, Montague was not just winning. It was overwhelming teams.
“By the time we played districts I believed we averaged 70 plus points in each game,” Kater said.
The Wildcats were not built around one player or one hot hand. The starting lineup of Jeff Petsch, Cody Kater, Matt DeJong, Stuart Jefferies, and Mike Mack was balanced. Off the bench, Mike Lewis, Brandon Kieft, and Paul Lombard played important roles. That depth mattered in March. Good teams survive on stars. Great teams survive on answers. Montague had answers.
The Grind to Breslin
Nothing about the postseason in the 2009 season was automatic. There was a gritty regional championship in Evart against Sanford Meridian.
“I remember grinding out a regional championship in Evart against Sanford Meridian,” Kater said.
Then came Flint Beecher, a game that required composure and execution.
“Then we got hot early against Flint Beecher and closed out a tight one,” he said.
And then it was Breslin. Win, and Montague would play for a state championship. Lose, and the 2009 season would end under the brightest lights in Michigan high school basketball. The Wildcats went cold. The moment felt heavier than any gym they had played in before. The run ended one step short of the title game.
What Changed Despite the loss
The final score did not define that team. What defined it was the ceiling it raised. Montague proved it could be more than a football town. It proved that a small town group that grew up together, learned fundamentals the hard way, and built habits early could compete on the state’s biggest stage.
Kater finished the 2009 season with around 525 points, setting a single season school record, and left Montague as the program’s all time leading scorer with 1,242 career points. But ask anyone who lived through the 2009 season and they will tell you the same thing. It was not just about one player. It was about the group. The leadership. The shared belief.
And maybe the most important part is this. Once a program experiences that stage, it never forgets it. Kids who were not alive during the 2009 season still hear about that run. Coaches still reference it. Players still chase it. Because the 2009 season was not just a great season. It became the measuring stick. And that is why it still matters.
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