The entrance to the gymnasium at the Campbell-Tintah school is a museum, curated by activities director Reed Johnson. There are some ancient football and baseball uniforms on display, as well as photographs of the school’s two most famous athletic graduates. Errol Mann, an NFL kicker for three teams in the 1960s and ’70s, is a 1959 graduate of Campbell High School. Mike Cannon, a Big Ten football official, graduated Campbell-Tintah in 1978. The trophy cases in the gym entryway are limited to a small handful of conference, district and region hardware. Since Fairmount, N.D., and Campbell-Tintah combined athletic forces in 1993, there has not been a Rebel team to qualify for a state tournament in any sport, according to Johnson.

“We’ve been close a few times,” Johnson said. “But no cigar.”

Perhaps the best opportunity for these tiny schools to end that drought – the Campbell-Tintah and Fairmount schools each have seven students in their senior classes this year – took the court Thursday night against Kindred. The Fairmount-Campbell-Tintah girls basketball team entered the game 13-1 and ranked No. 9 among North Dakota Class B high schools.

Any doubt that F-C-T was going to improve to 14-1 was removed in a matter of minutes. Rebel senior Sam Schmit batted the opening tap to junior Kali Luick, who zipped a pass ahead to Jordyn Campbell for a wide-open layup. Three seconds into the game and it was 2-0 Rebels. The proverbial floodgates were thrown open. When Kindred took its first timeout with 3:19 remaining in the first quarter, it was 9-0. It was 13-0 at the Vikings’ second timeout with 2:13 remaining. The quarter ended 21-0. By the time Kindred scored its first bucket, F-C-T led 32-0. It was an awesome display of pressure defense forcing turnovers, which were then converted to layups.

The final score was 64-35.

“It was amazing,” Schmit said. “We’ve been working on our defense since Christmas and it’s been improving since then. It’s been great, and tonight was a good example.”

Schmit, an athletic 6-foot-1 post, is the F-C-T player who has drawn the most attention. She is headed to the University of Mary, an NCAA Division II school, next season. She’s averaging 18 points and 10 rebounds, and scored 14 points against Kindred. But the Rebels are far from a one-person team. Luick, who nearly had a quadruple-double against Fargo Oak Grove on Tuesday, is an athletic 5-10 forward and scored 17 against the Vikings. Ditto freshman forward Kenzie Church, who had 10. And cousins Jordyn and Katelyn Campbell are quick, talented guards who fuel the defensive pressure. Jordyn is a sophomore, Katelyn a freshman. This is a young team.

“We’re not one-dimensional by any means,” Schmit said. “When teams come out to play us, they can’t stop just any one person. We can all make shots and play multiple positions. It’s fun to be a part of.” That a collection of athletes can come through such a small school at once – albeit in four different grades – is an alignment of stars Fairmount and Campbell-Tintah haven’t seen in decades. The Fairmount girls won the District 1 title and advanced to the Region 1 title game in 1975. That stood as the high-water mark for the program for three decades.

F-C-T started 2-5 last year when the Rebels had two eighth-graders, a freshman and a sophomore in the top six. But they ran off 10 straight victories late in the season, winning the District 1 championship and advancing to the region title game before losing to Kindred.

“We’ve fielded good, solid teams for the last seven or eight years,” said head coach Dan Schmit, Sam’s father. “We’ve been over .500 the last few. But for the most part if we’ve had a winning year, above .500, we considered it a pretty decent year. We’ve never seen anything like this.”

After watching the blitz F-C-T put on Kindred in the first 12 minutes Thursday, a first-time observer was moved to make the following statement to several Rebel followers: There is a loss on F-C-T’s record. How in the world did that happen?

It came Dec. 18 at Hankinson. The final was 54-48. The Rebels lost Jordyn Campbell midway through the third quarter when she dove for a loose ball, opened a nasty cut underneath her eye and had to leave the game. The Pirates were able to pull away.

That’s the one dent in the Rebels’ armor. They are not deep. They play five most of the time, and sometimes dip into their bench for senior Jess Rydell. Funny thing, though. When asked about the Hankinson loss after Thursday’s game, neither Sam Schmit nor Luick mentioned the loss of their feisty point guard. Instead, they said poor defense was the culprit.

“When we lost to Hankinson, it was like a wake-up call for us,” Luick said. “That opened our eyes to how we had to improve on defense. We’ve kept getting better and better each game. We’re confident now.” Hankinson, among other good teams, await the Rebels in the Region 1 tournament next month. For this collection of talented girls to have their picture hung with other Campbell heroes like Mann and Cannon, the stellar play will have to continue.

“It’s the ultimate goal in the end. We want to get to the big dance,” Sam Schmit said. “Especially being a senior. You want to lead your team to state. We’re like a family with this team. It’s amazing. It’s a great thing to be a part of.”