Carroll College Athletics

Anaconda Central High product Tom Byrne, a 5’11” guard, started for the Saints both his first two seasons, before the sport was canceled due to WWII. As a freshman, Carroll won its first-ever Conference basketball championship in 1942 and repeated the next year. Byrne was described as a “scrappy ball-hawk…a great ball-handler, scorer and defensive player…a hard worker and a smart player.”

Among his highlights was scoring the winning basket in the final seconds in a 38-36 victory over Billings Poly, when he juked the defender and splashed a “long, leaping 2-hand shot.” The next year, he reached double figures in several games before being hampered by an ankle injury the last half of the season, “but was the Hilltop’s mainstay throughout on defense.” Byrne then joined the U.S. Marine Reserves and took his officer training at Western Michigan College.