Journey Emerson, former Lame Deer record-setting star, dies in car accident (2024)

BILLINGS — Former Lame Deer boys basketball star Journey Emerson, who set the state single-game scoring record to help make the Morning Stars one of the best stories in Montana sports in 2022, died Friday in a car accident on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, his former coach Tiger Scalpcane told The Billings Gazette and 406 MT Sports on Friday night.

Emerson celebrated his 21st birthday this past Saturday, according to Scalpcane. Emerson was living with Scalpcane at the time of his death.

Emerson was traveling with his daughter and en route to dropping her off with his girlfriend's grandmother so that he could play in a recreational softball tournament in Billings, Scalpcane said. Emerson's daughter was in an intensive care unit in Billings as of Friday evening; a male passenger was in stable condition, per Scalpcane.

"I remember him as kind, soft-spoken, smiling all the time, always positive," Scalpcane said. "I never had to worry about him, never had to worry about him getting in trouble. I never had to worry about him drinking or staying out late. He always came in on time.

"He was my adopted son, for one, and was living with me, so he meant the world to me. I treated him like my own son, loved him like my own son. He called me dad. ... never had a mean bone in his body. Great kid, lovable kid, (and in the) community everybody loved him."

Emerson garnered national attention for his scoring outbursts during his senior season at Lame Deer in 2021-22, most notably when he dropped a still-standing state-record 82 points against Forsyth in February 2022.

He and former Lodge Grass star Damon Gros Ventre went back and forth throughout that season for the state's single-game high scoring lead for the year. Emerson notched his state record less than a week after Gros Ventre took over the all-time lead with a 71-point outburst against Huntley Project.

The rival Indians and Morning Stars clashed three times during that 2021-22 season and brought hot crowds and high scoring every time. Lodge Grass took the season series 2-1 by a combined 11 points.

Lame Deer's season ended that year in the Southern B divisional. Lodge Grass finished third at the Class B boys state tournament.

"The basketball player, he was phenomenal," Scalpcane said of Emerson. "I've coached hundreds of players in the last 16 years ... some of the stuff he did on a basketball court was unreal, and it was just a joy to watch, even as a coach and as a parent.

"He just kept scoring, kept scoring (in his 82-point game) and no one wanted to go in for him. ... Everything was going in, just shaking and baking, spinning and crossing over."

Emerson signed out of high school with NAIA Bacone College (Oklahoma) andfound his way to Chief Dull Knife College in Lame Deer in 2023,per the Big Horn County News.

Emerson donned the No. 40 in honor of Keeshawn Scalpcane, Tiger's son and Emerson's best friend,who died by suicide in June 2019. Whenever Emerson hit the 40-point mark in a game, Tiger said, he would point to the sky to dedicate the performance to his late friend, who also wore No. 40.

"They were really tight," Tiger Scalpcane said. "That's one thing we (thought about), 'Well, Keeshawn's probably happy to get his brother back.'

"His brother must have needed him back, because Keeshawn brought him into our lives, and he's been here with me for about five or six years now."

Personnel from Lodge Grass shared statements on Facebook on Friday night expressing their condolences and respect for his talent and the battles he gave the Indians over the course of his career.

"I've been thinking of the words but can't come up with the right ones to say what this young man has meant to us, to me, to Lodge Grass Boys basketball," former Lodge Grass coach Josh Stewart wrote in a Facebook post. "My heart breaks for his family and Cheyenne community, for the Morning Star culture. Journey was a real warrior. He was the scouting report. 'Who is going to stop Journey?'

"'Journey' well young warrior. Thank you for making us better. You left your mark and the world of MT hoops will speak of you for years."

"Just received word of the passing of this gentleman whom we all knew, whom was a legend and a great inspiration to not only the little Northern Cheyenne kids but Kids all over many reservations..," Gros Ventre wrote in a Facebook post, attaching a photo of him with Emerson following a game. "My thoughts and prayers are with the family in this troubling heartbreaking time."

A GoFundMe page organized by Scalpcane to help the family with funeral expenses. As of Sunday evening, more than $28,000 had been raised.