George Ferguson Column: We are some very lucky high school basketball fans around these parts

There's an old saying in sports that goes something like "You can't win them all." And while that's absolutely true, it sure seems like basketball teams on the Hi-Line just about do.

It seems that way because, right now, if you're a fan of high school hoops, and a fan in our coverage area, then you know, the area is having a pretty good time of it lately.

In fact, given how good hoops has been on the Hi-Line in recent years, when the 2018-19 season started back in December, it felt like Christmas came early, because you just knew, this season was going to be good.

And Saturday night, the Havre High girls put one last, big, bright shiny bow on the gift of basketball on the Hi-Line - a gift that has certainly kept on giving the last three months.

Yes, there's no denying, whether its boys or girls, high school basketball, from Hays and Harlem, to Turner, to Fort Benton, in Havre, and all over what we here at the Havre Daily News refer to as the Hi-Line, is really, really good right now.

Don't believe me? Let's just take a quick trip down memory lane.

First, when you talk about basketball success, you start and end right now with the Havre High girls. The Blue Ponies are on a long run of sustained excellence right now, and Saturday night's state championship win over the Hardin Bulldogs is just more testament to how good the Ponies are.

Of course, we pretty much wrapped up the Ponies in about every way possible just how special this season has been at Havre High, but here's what I'll add. The 2019 Blue Ponies were a great team, and they proved it in the moments that mattered most, by winning their last game of the season. That's the mark of a great team.

But, what is starting to really set Havre apart is the fact that, head coach Dustin Kraske has built a great program. See, there's a big difference. Great teams come and they go. Great programs last. And right now, in the same way Malta and Fairfield were, in the same way the Dillon boys, who once played in eight straight state championship were, in the same way the New England Patriots are, the Havre girls basketball program is a great program, and, if you're looking closely, and I know many of you are, the Ponies aren't going anywhere, not anytime soon.

Speaking of programs, the Box Elder girls are right there, too. They've now won back-to-back state championships, but beyond that, they've simply been one of the best, consistent and most successful programs in Class C girls basketball over the last five years. And, when the Bears beat Roy-Winifred last week for the school's third girls basketball state title, and second in as many years, it only cemented the fact that the Bears, under Joel Rosette, aren't just a great team in 2019, they're a great program, and one that's built to last.

Now, there's nothing, absolutely nothing wrong with great teams. Not everybody can be a program year after year after year. But what does seem to be happening year after year is, the Hi-Line is producing really good, and great basketball teams, and great programs, in many different towns, and at all levels.

The Havre girls certainly stand alone in Class A right now, and the Blue Pony boys, they weren't far off either.

But, the Hi-Line checks all the boxes.

The Rocky Boy boys are on a run of sustained Class B excellence right now, having reached yet another trophy game at the Class B state tournament. Then you have the great run by the Harlem girls and, yep, the Hi-Line has multiple really good Class B basketball teams this season.

Go down to Class C, and Box Elder's success was unmatched, but the Bears weren't alone. On the girls side, Fort Benton is in the midst of a lot of success, and the Turner girls have had two really magical seasons in a row. And if you watched closely, the likes of North Star and Hays-Lodge Pole weren't that far off on the girls side this year either.

Flip the page to the Class C boys, and no one will forget how dominant the Chinook boys were this winter. The Beeters won 25 straight games before their first loss. For many years, it was the Chinook girls who were on that kind of run, but now, it's the Sugarbeeter boys who are experiencing plenty of fun basketball success right now. Then you have Hays-Lodge Pole and Fort Benton both in power right now, and, it seems like, the area has just kept on going, kept on thriving in Class C boys basketball, since the great days of K-G, Chester, HLP, Big Sandy, Box Elder and Rocky Boy. It just seems like, while the names change, what doesn't change is that somebody from the 9C is a premier Class C boys basketball power, year in and year out.

And that's true of the entire Hi-Line right now. Yes, graduation this spring will change things for many of the basketball teams that have had an incredible 2019, but what won't change is the fact that the Hi-Line, right now, is as good, as talented, as deep and as special as any region in Montana high school basketball.

I don't know everything but I do know that. And I'm not afraid to say it. The Hi-Line has some really, really good basketball from A to C right now, and the last three months are all the evidence I need to make that case.

So, congratulations to everybody who hit the hardwood this winter. And just know, whether you won a state championship or not, you made the Hi-Line proud, and you are the reason why the Hi-Line is still, and will continue to be, a true Montana hoops hotbed.