It's HIT madness in Havre

Malta legend Babsie Bishop founded the Hi-Line Invitational Tournament (HIT) 27 years ago, and the annual boys and girls basketball tournament is still running strong today.

Today-Saturday, the Armory Gymnasium on the campus of Montana State University-Northern in Havre will be home to some of the best Class AA-C basketball players in the state. Both the Lights and Skylights players and coaches will put on the annual postseason tournament, which includes a 3-point contest on Friday and a dunk contest on Saturday.

Havre High's Lacey Waid is one of many local preps playing in this weekend's Hi-Line Invitational all-star tournament, which will be held at the Armory Gymnasium in Havre. The HIT begins this afternoon and runs through Saturday night, and features boys and girls all-star teams from Class AA, A, B and C.

Saturday is also highlighted by both consolation and championship games. The girls consolation game is at 2 p.m., followed by the boys at 3:30 p.m. And the girls championship game will be at 5:30 p.m., followed by the boys chipper at 7 p.m.

The HIT isn't just a great opportunity for basketball fans to witness some of the state's best prep talent, it's also a great recruiting tool for the Lights and Skylights. The more familiar these players, young and old, are with the MSU-N programs, the better.

"We want to get the best players up here that we can," Skylights head coach Chris Mouat said. "Whether their seniors, juniors, freshmen, sophomores. We want to get them immersed with our players. We want to have them in our gym, especially new and looking so good as it does now. It's a great recruiting opportunity and it's something that we fully try to take advantage of."

And the talent pool is deep this season.

The AA girls team is made up of Hattie Thatcher (Butte High), Mika Robinson (Billings West), Sammy McGee (Butte High), Taylor Kumm (Great Falls High), Alexa Welch (Helena Capitol), Callie Kanthack (Helena High), Kaye Bignell (Helena High), Nora Klick (Great Falls High), Natalee Faupel (Butte High and MSU-N recruit), Liz Klinker (Great Falls High), Markaela Francis (Great Falls High) and Michaela Dowdy (Helena Capital). And the AA boys are made up of Hunter Beto (Helena Capital), Adam Huse (Bozeman), LaRance Racine (Great Falls High), Tad Rose (Billings Central), Dylan Tatarka (Great Falls High), Carson Dummer (Capital High), Jayse McLean (Great Falls High) and Josiah Running Crow (Billings Skyview).

And for the Class A girls, it will be Peyton FIlius (Havre High), Lacey Waid (Havre High), Morgan Mazurkiewicz (Havre High), Tori Mazurkiewicz (Havre High), Danee Leary (Butte Central), Marti Eaglefeathers (Browning) and Kyla Paulson (Stevensville). And the Class A boys include Jared Schultz (Stevensville), Boyd Jenne (Dillon), Brady Tippett (Butte Central), Jared Winslow (Libby), Marcus Payne (Livingston), Brett Thompson (Laurel), Nate Bolstad (Butte Central), Zack Gavlak (Stevensville) and Jesse Simms (Stevensville).

The Class B girls include, Jill Barta (Fairfield), Jordan Johnson (Fairfield), Courtney Henry (Malta), Skylar Baldry (Three Forks) and Tianna Hanson (Shepherd), while the Class B boys include Kendall Denham (Malta), Austin Jordt (Big Fork), Casey McLean (Whitehall), Grant Ellison (Sweet Grass), Mechiah Zilkoski (Wolf Point), Quinn McQueary (Manhattan High), Colter Trent (Big Fork), Gavin DeJong (Manhattan High) and Darien LaFromboise (Rocky Boy).

And finally, the Class C girls team will include Katie Fetterer (Belt), Krissy Paske (Drummond), Kara Gerke (Belt), Britta Young (Augusta), Shae Bruursema (Reedpoint/Rapelje), Martha Dembek (Winnett/Grass Range), Frankie Bignell (Drummond), Kaylyn Delaney (Winnett/Grass Range) and Makhayla Farmer (Chinook and MSU-N recruit). The boys Class C squad will include Brady Olson (Westby/Grenora), Luke Stulc (Roy/Winifred), Tiegen Johnson (Dutton/Brady), Deryk Pearsall (Centerville), Chad Kananen (Roy/Winifred), Trevor Lackner (Big Sandy), Zack Camel (Arlee), Grant Tilleman (Chinook) and Mark Papp (Melstone).

Each game should present players and fans with a great matchup.

Each boys and girls team is stacked with talent, including size, speed, and a barrage of scorers. There's also plenty of local talent including a bevy talented players from the Central A champion Havre High girls, as well as the likes of Farmer, Lackner, LaFromboise, Tilleman and others.

Play begins today at 4 p.m. when the Class A girls take on the Class AA. The Class A and AA boys will follow at 5:30 p.m., while the Class C will face the Class B at 7 p.m. in girls play, and at 8:30 p.m. in boys action. Tournament play continues Friday and Saturday, and will be capped off by the championship games at 5:30 p.m. (girls) and 7 p.m. (boys) on Saturday.

Hi-Line Invitational

Tournament

Thursday, March 22

4:00 p.m. Class A Girls vs. Class AA Girls

5:30 p.m. Class A Boys vs. Class AA Boys

7:00 p.m. Class C Girls vs. Class B Girls

8:30 p.m. Class C Boys vs. Class B Boys

Friday, March 23

Noon Class C Girls vs. Class A Girls

1:30 p.m. Class C Boys vs. Class A Boys

3:00 p.m. Class B Girls vs. Class AA Girls

4:30 p.m. Class B Boys vs. Class AA Boys

6:00 p.m. 3-Point Contest

7:00 p.m. Class B Girls vs. Class A Girls

8:30 p.m. Class B Boys vs. Class A Boys

Saturday, March 24

9:00 a.m. Class C Girls vs. Class AA Girls

10:30 a.m.Class C Boys vs. Class AA Boys

2:00 p.m. Consolation Girls Game

3:30 p.m. Consolation Boys Game

5:00 p.m. Slam Dunk Competition

5:30 p.m. Championship Girls Game

7:00 p.m. Championship Boys Game