C/J-I, Fort Benton could be moving to 9C

Major changes could be heading the Hi-Line's way as it relates to high school football and basketball.

Proposals at this week's Montana High School Association fall meetings in Helena will realign the Northern C Division in basketball and track and field, including some major restructuring of the District 9C, with the addition of Chester/J-I and Fort Benton.

C/J-I is a member of the Northern C's District 10C in basketball and track and field, but with the reworking of the Northern C, the Hawks would move into the 9C, a place they used to be for many years. That would spell good news for the 9C boys and girls basketball tournament, which several years ago, saw Rocky Boy move up to Class B. Adding to the strength of the 9C would be Fort Benton, a school many wanted to see in the district when the Longhorns dropped from Class B several years back.

Tim Tharp, president of the Northern C, said the division will go from four conferences, or districts, to three for basketball and track in the 2014-15 school year. A rash of recent cooperative agreements have reduced the size of Northern C from more than 30 teams eight years ago to the 24 that are expected to compete next winter.

The proposal was given the OK by the Northern C schools and given preliminary approval Monday as the MHSA meetings got underway. Procedure requires the MHSA to offer a two-week period for comment before making the decision official.

The realignment would do away with District 7C, leaving 8, 9 and 10 as eight-team leagues.

The 9C would include Big Sandy, Box Elder, Chinook, Chester/J-I, Fort Benton, Hays-Lodge Pole, North Star and Turner. The 10C would include Cascade, Dutton-Brady, Great Falls Central, Heart Butte, Power, Simms-Augusta, Sunburst and Valier, while the 8C would include Belt, Centerville, Geraldine, Highwood, Hobson-Moore-Judith Gap, Roy-Winifred, Stanford-Geyser-Denton and Winnett-Grass Range.

Currently, Fort Benton is a member of the 8C, as is Cascade and Great Falls Central. Hobson-Moore-Judith-Gap, Roy-Winifred, Stanford-Geyser-Denton and Winnett-Grass Range currently make up District 7C. Not long ago, all of those co-ops had their own teams.

Tharp envisions nine-team district tournaments, with three qualifiers each from the three leagues advancing.

It was just two seasons ago that the District 9C girls basketball tournament was down to just five teams, with the loss of Rocky Boy and Turner unable to field a varsity team. Turner has since saw its girls basketball numbers rise, while the addition of C/J-I and Fort Benton would certainly strengthen the annual tournament, which is held at the Havre high gymnasium.

Another change coming to the Northern C is the loss of Sunburst as a football team. The Refiners have been approved to drop to the Six-Man's North Division starting next fall.