Montana
Johnson lifts Griz to 77-70 win over Cats – University of Montana Athletics
Johnson scored 25 points on 11-of-18 shooting and led a fantastic team effort in the defensive end to help Montana win for the 17th time in the last 19 tries at home against the Cats.
“Just attack and be aggressive and get back to my game,” Johnson said of his mentality on Saturday night. “I had a little two-game rough stretch but just stayed confident in my abilities and the work I’ve put in my whole life to go out there and do what I do.”
Finger roll to get him to 2⃣1⃣ on the night. @LetItFlyKai | #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/D6goeckg65
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) January 26, 2025
The Grizzlies (13-8, 6-2 Big Sky) scored 17 points off turnovers, forcing 13 Bobcat turnovers on the night. They also limited MSU (8-13, 3-5 Big Sky) to just four made three-pointers and gave up just four second-chance points.
Paired with a hot night from Johnson and balanced scoring behind him, and it resulted in Montana leading for more than 35 of the 40 minutes.
“I feel like tonight was the best we’ve executed on the defensive side of the ball all year,” head coach Travis DeCuire said. “And then our consideration. When we really needed a basket, whether it was the first or second half, we did a really good job of taking advantage of some things that we saw, but also getting to the second and third options.”
Montana State had a quick 4-0 lead before a 7-0 Grizzly run put the hosts back in charge. The teams traded baskets in the early-going and Montana State went ahead 21-20 on a three-point play with just under nine minutes left in the first half.
Then Johnson scored on a drive to the hoop to start a 22-9 Grizzly run over the final nine minutes. Johnson had 10 of the 22 points, and went into the halftime break with 14 points on 7-of-10 shooting.
Montana scored the final six points of the half, heading into the locker rooms with all of the momentum after shooting 63.3 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes.
Malik Moore hit a three-pointer early in the second half and Johnson followed it up with a three-point play to put Montana ahead 48-31 in the early stages of the second half. The Grizzlies led by double figures for a large portion of the half, thanks in large part to the play of Joe Pridgen.
Pridgen had eight Montana points in a row early in the second half, and 10 out of 12 for Montana at one point. He scored 10 points on perfect shooting over the final 20 minutes, and ended the game with 14 points and a team-high six rebounds.
“Our patience side-to-side and our ball screen motion really saved us because we were able to milk the clock a little bit and then pick some things up against some switches,” DeCuire said. “Joe Pridgen got going for us a little bit, but Kai Johnson was the difference.”
Johnson had six straight on his own over a two-minute stretch that made it 69-57 Montana, and gave them enough of a cushion to withstand a field goal drought of nearly six minutes to end the game.
Montana State went on a 7-0 run following his last make to cut the lead to five points. They had another 6-0 run in the final two minutes to get within one possession at 73-70, but they never had the ball within a possession as Montana made its free throws down the stretch to hold on for the win.
The Grizzlies offense may have cooled off down the stretch, but it was the ball control that was key to the win. Montana did not commit a single turnover in the second half. MSU had five. It led to 13 more shots from Montana on the night.
“You won’t lose if you take care of the ball. If you get more shots than your opponent, you typically win, especially when you’re getting good shots,” DeCuire said. “I think for us, the ball pressure helped, they took advantage of it a little bit with space to drive, but we forced some turnovers to make up for it. The biggest thing is if you take care of the ball and get a shot every time down the floor, you give yourself a great chance and we did that tonight.”
The Grizzlies did well defensively on the three-point shooting of the Bobcats. They average nearly nine makes per game, but went just 4-of-12 on Saturday. The Griz also held the Cats leading scorer, Brandon Walker, well below his season average.
“Just paying attention to the details. Some guys we covered one way, some guys we covered another, and I felt like our guys did an incredible job of maintaining the coverage,” DeCuire said. “We knew who was going to shoot the threes in what situations, and they did a good job, they countered some stuff, but I just thing our guys did a great job understanding the personnel scout.”
It was Johnson’s best game of the season as the Western Washington transfer’s 25 points were a career high against a D-1 opponent. He had the hot hand early, and the Grizzlies fed him throughout the night.
𝑻𝑯𝑬𝒀. 𝑪𝑨𝑵’𝑻. 𝑺𝑻𝑶𝑷. 𝑯𝑰𝑴.
14 first half points for Kai. 🔥🔥🔥@LetItFlyKai | #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/lRGh4Oc93l
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) January 26, 2025
Johnson said the crowd was “everything” for his team tonight, and he fed off the energy they brought. He certainly made the most of his first rivalry game, and it all started early with some tough baskets in the lane.
“At that point, you hit a couple of shots, you’re playing good defense, the team is playing good, you just kind of get in this flow state and it’s just instincts at that point,” Johnson said.
DeCuire has known that Johnson has performances like this in him. The blessing and the curse of this Montana team is that there are several ball-dominant players like Johnson that can take over any given game.
Johnson had just nine points over Montana’s previous three games. He made 11 shots on Saturday to get his form back and then some.
“He played his game. He’s good with the ball in his hands and he has been all year,” DeCuire said. “We created some opportunities for him, spaced the floor and went to a shooting lineup with Joe at the five which helped spread the floor and get to some things.”
Montana improved to 9-1 at home in the rivalry under Coach DeCuire, who won his 214th game to inch ever closer to the program record of 221 set by “Jiggs” Dahlberg.
There was a crowd of nearly 6,000 on hand to witness the Grizzly victory, which also improved DeCuire to 15-5 overall against the rivals. The majority of Montana’s roster was playing in its first rivalry game on Saturday night.
“I didn’t even really discuss it very much. I love this environment, this is what being a Griz is about, this support,” DeCuire said. “We recruited them to that, so they knew that everyone would show up for this game. I remember when they would show up for all of them, but we appreciate the support. They were loud, they were energetic, and we had a sixth man tonight.”
.@CoachDeCuire 🤝 @MontanaZooCrew pic.twitter.com/mFHcVQDpnr
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) January 26, 2025
The Grizzlies won’t have long to revel in the victory as they have another big game coming on Thursday night. Portland State, sitting right behind Montana in the league standings at 5-2, comes to town on Thursday night.
Montana then hosts Sacramento State in the annual N7 Game on Saturday afternoon.
The Vikings have won three straight games and have separated themselves as the clear third-place team in the league, setting up a huge showdown for Thursday evening.
“I think it’s healthy for us to get this one behind us so we can get back to us,” DeCuire said. Not about the crowd and things like that, but just play our best basketball and this is how we’re going to win. It’s a big week, it’s our biggest week of the year. If we take care of home, we’ve already won enough road games to put ourselves in a really good spot.”
Finger roll to get him to 2⃣1⃣ on the night. @LetItFlyKai | #GoGriz pic.twitter.com/D6goeckg65
— Montana Griz Basketball (@MontanaGrizBB) January 26, 2025
Montana
Montana Supreme Court Decides International Child Custody Case – Transnational Litigation Blog
Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay
The Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction Enforcement Act discourages forum shopping in child custody disputes by assigning subject-matter jurisdiction to the court located in the “home state” of the child. In Allen v. Allen, decided on April 21, 2026, the Montana Supreme Court had to determine whether the child’s “home state” was Montana or the Netherlands. This case shines an important spotlight on the importance of timing in international child custody disputes. The left-behind parent’s likelihood of success is strongly correlated with how quickly he or she acts to vindicate their legal rights.
Facts
Jonathan Edward Allen (Father) and Petronella Gerline (Van Oosterom) Allen (Mother) were married in Colorado in 2009. Father is a United States citizen. Mother is a dual citizen of the United States and the Netherlands. Their child (R.A.A.) was born in 2015. In 2020, the family moved from Colorado to Montana.
In August 2023, after Father and Mother began having marital difficulties, Mother and R.A.A. relocated to the Netherlands. In February 2024, Mother filed a petition for divorce and custody with the District Court of Central Netherlands (Netherlands District Court).
In January 2025, Father filed a petition with the District Court of The Hague seeking the return of R.A.A. pursuant to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. This petition was denied. Although the court held that R.A.A. had been wrongfully removed from the United States, the court reasoned that the one-year automatic return period had passed and that R.A.A. had become settled in her new environment in the Netherlands. This decision was affirmed on appeal.
In September 2025, Father filed an Emergency Motion for Temporary Custody and Petition for Permanent Parenting Plan in Montana state court. That court dismissed the petition on the grounds that it lacked subject-matter jurisdiction. Specifically, it held that it lacked the power to adjudicate the dispute because Montana was no longer the “home state” of R.A.A. Father, acting pro se, appealed to the Montana Supreme Court.
Analysis
The Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA) assigns exclusive subject-matter jurisdiction to courts located in the child’s “home state” when it comes to matters relating to child custody. The “home state” is “the state in which a child lived with a parent or a person acting as parent for at least 6 consecutive months immediately before the commencement of a child custody proceeding.” The UCCJEA specifically provides that courts “shall treat a foreign country as if it were a state of the United States” for purposes of resolving these disputes.
On the facts presented in Allen v. Allen, the Montana Supreme Court correctly held that it lacked subject-matter jurisdiction to consider Father’s emergency motion. Mother and R.A.A. relocated to the Netherlands in August 2023. Six months later—in February 2024—R.A.A.’s home state shifted to the Netherlands. The Dutch courts—rather than the Montana courts—now had exclusive subject-matter jurisdiction to resolve custody disputes involving R.A.A. Father did not file his motion in Montana until September 2025, which was nineteen months too late.
Conclusion
If Father had filed his suit in Montana before February 2024, he could have shown that Montana was R.A.A.’s “home state” because the child had not yet resided in the Netherlands for six months. The suit was, however, not filed until September 2025.
If Father had filed suit in the Netherlands before August 2024, he could have argued that R.A.A. should be returned to the United States pursuant to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction because the child had not yet resided in the Netherlands for a year. The suit was, however, not filed until January 2025.
The key takeaway of Allen v. Allen is the need for speed in international child custody cases. The timelines baked into the relevant laws and treaties mandate that the left-behind parent move quickly to assert their rights. If they are slow off the mark, they be forced to litigate in foreign courts under less favorable legal rules.
MISSOULA, Mont. — The Clark Fork River has long been a defining feature of Missoula, shaping the city’s culture, economy and outdoor lifestyle.
The river is so closely tied to the area that it helped inspire the well-known book and film “A River Runs Through It.” But local conservation advocates say its importance goes far beyond scenery.
“Without the Clark Fork River, Missoula would just be another town,” said Lisa Ronald, Northern Rockies associate conservation director for American Rivers. “We wouldn’t be the River City. I think we’re known in Montana as Missoula the River City, and it’s really because of the Clark Fork River and its central role in business, in economics, in recreation, that really makes Missoula the town that it is.”
Carmen Murill, a field organizer with Wild Montana, said the river is deeply woven into daily life for people who live in Missoula.
“A lot of us would wonder what to do on a beautiful or a rainy summer day,” Murill said. “I mean, it’s really a lifeforce of town. And I think it’s pretty unique that Missoula, as a community is living and breathing on both sides of the river. It’s really like two downtowns but connected by the Clark Fork.”
Conservation groups say protecting the river begins with community involvement.
Advocates encourage residents and visitors to spend time outdoors, whether on a trail, in the woods or along the river, and to learn how they can become better stewards of the environment.
MISSOULA — Sam Forstag edged out Ryan Busse to secure the Democratic nomination in Montana’s 1st Congressional District.
Busse conceded the race to Forstag on Wednesday morning. Forstag had trailed behind Busse Tuesday evening, but he made up ground as the votes were counted into the early hours of Wednesday morning. The other two candidates in the race, Russl Cleveland and Matt Rains, are sitting at third and fourth, respectively.
Forstag leads in close race for Montana’s 1st Congressional District
Forstag spent eight years as a wildland firefighter, including four as a smokejumper, and he’s been vice president of the local National Federation of Federal Employees union. Last week, U.S. House of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, held a rally in Missoula to support Forstag’s campaign.
He told MTN on Tuesday that his campaign has been for the working class.
“We got a whole lot of people here that have been working their tail off to finally get some working-class representation in Washington,” Forstag noted. “So proud of everything we’ve done and so grateful.”
Forstag further noted he wants Montanans to be able to afford groceries, have universal free childcare and restore and expand Affordable Health Care Act subsidies.
“Hearing people’s stories and struggles and commonalities in the ways that we’re all fighting in the system that does not serve us so often, and the government serves corporations and the richest people in this country more than working people. It has been frustrating and saddening, but it has also inspired so much hope in me, like the fixes we can actually make,” he told MTN.
The 1st Congressional District covers much of western Montana, including Kalispell, Missoula, Butte and Bozeman. It is currently held by Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Montana, who chose not to seek reelection.
By securing the nomination, Forstag is slated tol face off against Libertarian candidate Nick Sheedy and Republican candidate Aaron Flint in November.
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