by Scott Sacry
Basketball season bookends winter in Montana – it starts with the last echoes of fall and ends with spring in sight. Starting this weekend, Montana high school girls and boys basketball teams start the final leg of that journey in post-season tournaments. From Plevna to Plenty Coups to Power and from Roundup to Roberts to Reed Point-Rapelje, Montana players, coaches, and communities will be vying for eight state basketball titles. Along the way the majority of teams will not win the ultimate prize, but they will be better for the journey as they learn the lessons that come from winning and losing. But at the start, it doesn’t matter if you’ve won every game or lost every game, once the tournaments begin, everyone has a chance.
The six high school boys and girls basketball teams from the Bitterroot Valley will be in the thick of the action.
The Victor and Darby schools play in the 13C District Tournament in Hamilton on February 16th-18th. The Darby girls are the #4 seed and play #5 Valley Christian on Thursday at 10:30 a.m. The Darby boys are the #1 seed and get a 1st round bye. They play the Valley Christian/Granite Co. winner on Friday at 2 p.m. The Victor girls are the #6 seed and play #3 Granite Co. on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. The Victor boys are the #6 seed and play #3 Seeley on Thursday at 3 p.m. in Hamilton.
Two girls and boys teams will advance from Districts into Divisionals, which will be held in Butte the following week. The Class C State Tournament will be at the Metra in Billings on March 8th-11th.
Corvallis, Hamilton and Stevensville play in the Southwestern A Conference. This year the top three teams get automatic byes to Divisionals. The #4 through the #7 seeded teams play in a Divisional play-in tournament on February 16th and 18th.
For the boys, Hamilton is the #2 seed and gets a bye into Divisionals. On Thursday, #4 Frenchtown hosts #7 Stevensville and #5 East Helena hosts #6 Corvallis.
For the girls, Hamilton is the #3 seed and gets a bye into Divisionals. On Thursday, #4 Stevensville hosts #7 Corvallis and #5 East Helena hosts #6 Butte Central. The winners of the boys and girls games play Saturday with the higher seed hosting, and the winner of that game earns the #4 seed in Divisionals.
The Western A Divisionals are the following weekend in Ronan on February 23rd-25th. The Class A State tournament will be March 9th-11th at the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse in Bozeman.
The Florence-Carlton girls and boys play in the District 6B tournament on Feb. 13th-18th. The Florence girls are the #3 seed and play at #2 seeded Missoula Loyola on Thursday, Feb. 16th at 6 p.m. The Florence boys are the #2 seed and host #3 Anaconda on Friday. The consolation and championship games for both the boys and girls take place in Anaconda on Saturday, February 18th starting at 11 a.m.
The top four teams advance to the Western B Divisionals in Anaconda on February 23th-25th. The Class B State Tournament will be held at the Four Seasons Arena in Great Falls on March 9th-11th.
Regardless of the eventual outcome, dedicated players, coaches, referees, and supporters have put in a great deal of time and hard work and effort, so make sure to get out there and give them your support!