All but one of the Broncs' six wins has come by single digits, including a 58-57 thriller against Polson on Dec. 17 and an equally rousing outing at Butte Central five days later that ended 57-55.

Hunter Omlid was responsible for the first victory, the sophomore and Hamilton's leading scorer drilling a 3-pointer as time expired to turn a loss into a win. Then on Dec. 22 against Southwest A foe Central, Carter Kearns hit a runner to break a tie with hardly a second left on the clock.

That came after the Broncs held the ball for the final 1 minute, 30-some seconds while working it around the perimeter with precise passes to stall for the final shot.

"We work on it in practice quite a bit and we've used it a few times already this year," Hamilton head coach Travis Blome said. "But for a minute-30? That's a very long time so I was very proud of our mental toughness."

That killer instinct evolved out of so many near-misses during last season's state-qualifying campaign. Hamilton hadn't made the state tournament since 1994 and struggled to hold onto leads once it got there. The Broncs watched a 10-point second-half advantage disappear in a 58-49 loss to Havre in the first round at Missoula's Dahlberg Arena, then came up short 51-50 in an elimination game against Polson.

"We talked about it going into the year, about finishing games off," said Blome, whose team went 12-12 a year ago. "Last year we lost quite a few close ones when we were leading in the fourth quarter so it was nice to see us open the season with the ability to finish games in the end."

The Broncs are 2-0 in league and own the early edge in the Southwest, but the meat of the schedule is creeping up on them. First comes a pair of games against Northwest A opponents Frenchtown and Whitefish before a home date with Bitterroot Valley rival Stevensville and a showdown at defending state champion Dillon an Jan. 14.

"The next two weeks when we come out of Christmas are key for us," Blome said.

Omlid leads the Broncs in scoring with 16.8 points per game with Kearns, a junior, close behind at 14.2. Sophomore Tanner Goligoski is averaging another 10.5.

The rest of the unbeatens

The high school season isn't even a month old, but Hamilton finds itself in rare company as one of the few remaining unbeatens.

Just two other Class A boys' basketball squads have yet to endure their first loss (5-0 Hardin and 4-0 Sidney) while western Montana is even lighter with unblemished teams across all classifications.

Class C Plains is the only other undefeated boys' program in the far west, holding a 6-0 record and leading District 14-C at 2-0. The Horsemen got there by handing Arlee its first loss, 71-67, last week.

There's a few more unbeatens among girls' basketball teams in the Missoulian's coverage area, including the Missoula Sentinel Spartans who sit at 5-0 in Class AA. Sentinel, much like 6-0 Columbia Falls in Class A, was a state favorite entering the season.

Both Florence (6-0) and Ronan (7-0) have yet to lose in Class B and the two District 6-B teams appear on a crash course for an undefeated showdown early next month. Each has two tests to pass first, but then the Falcons and Maidens will meet in Ronan on Jan. 10.