MISSOULA — The scene was straight out a movie.
A packed house with a state title on the line, and the hometown Missoula Loyola Rams were front and center at Dahlberg Arena looking to claim a three-peat.
But what Reynolds Johnston did in the opening quarter couldn't be scripted, as 3-pointer after 3-pointer kept falling en route to a 22-point first-quarter performance that ultimately led Loyola to the mountaintop once again.
"Part of that was something, I don't know, an external force, something supernatural, I don't even know, because every shot in the first couple of minutes of that game just felt good," Johnston recalled. "I think after the third 3 went in and I was like, what's going on? You know, I put my hands on my head. I was going crazy, but I just started thinking of her throughout that just she would have loved it."
She was Bernice Johnston, Rey's mother and biggest fan, who suddenly and tragically passed away on Aug. 11 of last year.
The season was for her, but Rey's performance in the championship game had Bernice written all over it.
"I had a great first quarter and I just felt her with me that whole time," he said. "And then after the game, when I got subbed out, I just broke down in tears because it was something she loved. She loved watching me play. And for us to be in that environment, the only thing I could think of was her that whole game."
Johnston needed a community around him, and Loyola provided exactly that as the Rams embarked on making Montana history.
From teammates to family to head coach Scott Anderson, who he's known since he was a young child, Johnston found it everywhere.
"I had both his brothers, and he was walking in with cowboy boots and diapers and an old sweatshirt when I first met him, he didn't like me," Anderson said laughing. "I'd go up to him and try to talk to him and he'd run and grab his dad's leg and just sneer at me. He was something else."
Bernice's impact was felt by everyone in the program.
"She was on the bench with us singing and dancing and having a ball," Anderson said. "And you can just see whatever they do as a family, they've done an amazing job with those kids.
"You can see her in him right now."
And Johnston found solace where you might expect.
"Right when I got back, I remember I was just like, I need to go to the gym," Johnston said. "And then since then, the gym has been my place to release, you know, let go kind of. Let me think about stuff. The gym and my family were the two biggest parts."
It was hard throughout the season, with Johnston saying it sunk in after the first game knowing she wouldn't be there.
"Just having mental stability. I've been surrounded with good people, have good habits," Johnston said. "And yeah, just trusting what I do and also I know just being able to confront those emotions, it's not good to bury that stuff deep down. Like definitely talk with someone, how you're feeling, like open up instead of just having to deal with that in silence."
But through it all, he persevered, and the rest is history, as the Rams became the first program to three-peat in Class B since Lodge Grass in the late 1980s and early 1990s. After the season Johnston was named the Montana Gatorade player of the year for the second straight season, joining fellow Missoula basketball standouts Tres Tinkle and Rollie Worster as multi-time winners.
"She was always super proud of the award," Johnston said. "And she'd always talked to me about, you know, maybe getting it twice. I felt like it was a lot more for her than it was for me."
Now, it's on to College of Idaho, the reigning NAIA national champion, where Johnston will have a chance to have an immediate impact.
"Rey is extremely talented, but the reason we really wanted Rey to be in our program, it's his spirit," College of Idaho head coach Colby Blaine said. "Rey has an incredible spirit about him. The way that he connects with people, the way that people feel around him, he creates a safe environment, he pumps people up. That's what we want in our program and he's going to thrive with us."
Through the ups and the downs, Johnston and Loyola's success was one for the history books.
"Joy. That's the first word that comes to mind is, you know, I can think of very few times where I wasn't happy playing basketball here or doing anything off the court with the guys," Johnston said. "So yeah, joy is the one word that comes to mind."
