Rocky Boy, Harlem basketball head to districts

While most local basketball fans will be watching the District 9C basketball tournaments in Havre this week, they should not forget the other Hi-Line basketball teams beginning the postseason this week.

The Rocky Boy boys and girls basketball teams will begin the postseason with the District 1B Basketball Tournament in Cut Bank this week. Meanwhile, the Harlem boys and girls basketball teams will start postseason play with the District 2B Basketball Tournament in Malta.

The Rocky Boy boys basketball team had a solid season finishing second in the 1B with a record of 12-6 and a conference record of 6-4. In this week's tournament, Rocky Boy will look to finish in the top four in order to qualify for the Northern B Divisional. With their record, the Morning Stars earned a bye to start the tournament and they head straight to the semifinal this Friday at 2:30 p.m.

In the semifinal, Rocky Boy will face either Cut Bank or Choteau, who play each other Thursday. Cut Bank enters the tournament with an 11-6 overall record and a conference record of 6-4. During the regular season, Rocky Boy and Cut Bank split the season series with both teams winning at home.

Choteau finished last in the District 1B with an overall record of 3-15 and a conference record of 0-10. In the regular season, Rocky Boy swept Choteau by scores of 62-48 and 65-48. If Rocky Boy wins the semifinal, it will head to the championship game Saturday at 6:30 p.m.

The most likely opponent in the championship game would be Fairfield, who went 15-2 during the season and 10-0 in conference play to earn the tournament's No. 1 seed. Fairfield swept Rocky Boy by scores of 64-61 and 66-55. If Rocky Boy wants to go on a run and maybe even upset Fairfield, players such as Teague Stump, Domitri Standing Rock and Joe Standing Rock will have to get hot this week.

The Rocky Boy girls basketball team will begin the postseason with the District 1B Girls Basketball Tournament this week. Rocky Boy went 1-15 during the regular season and finished last in the 1B with a 0-8 conference record. As the tournament's No. 6 seed, the Stars will face Conrad.

Conrad finished third in the 1B with a 6-4 conference record and an overall record of 10-8 this season. During the season, Conrad swept Rocky Boy by scores of 56-42 and 66-34. If the Stars want to go on a surprise run and finish in the top four to qualify for the Northern B Divisional, they will need players such as Jacyi Demontiney and Kalelee Henderson to play well.

The Harlem boys basketball team will look to finish in the top four at the District 2B Tournament this week in order to qualify for the Northern B Divisional. The Wildcats enter the tournament as the No. 5 seed after going 2-15 in the regular season with a 1-7 conference record.

The Wildcats will start the tournament Thursday at 3 p.m. with a game against Glasgow. The Scotties enter the tournament as the No. 4 seed after going 8-10 during the season and 2-6 in the conference. During the season, Harlem and Glasgow split the season series with both home teams winning.

If Harlem defeats Glasgow, the Wildcats would advance to the semifinal to face Wolf Point Friday at 3 p.m. The Wolves are the tournament's No. 1 seed after going 16-2 with an 8-0 record in conference play. Wolf Point swept Harlem by scores of 75-25 and 65-54 this season. If the Wildcats want to go on a deep run and extend their season, they will need players such as Marley Stewart, Moses Lawrence and Tommy Champagne to get rolling.

The Harlem girls basketball will also look to finish in the top four at the District 2B Girls Basketball Tournament this week in order to qualify for the Northern B Divisional. The Wildcats went 3-14 during the season and 0-8 in conference play to head into the tournament as the No. 5 seed.

The Wildcats will start the tournament with a game against Glasgow Thursday at 4:30 p.m. The Scotties are the No. 5 seed after going 3-15 with a 3-5 record in conference games. Glasgow swept Harlem by scores of 49-40 and 57-15 this season.

If the Wildcats can get past Glasgow, they would advance to the semifinal to play No. 1 seed Malta Friday at 4:30 p.m. The M-Ettes went 16-2 during the season with a 10-0 conference record. Malta swept Harlem by scores of 72-27 and 70-26 this season.

The District 1B Boys and Girls Basketball Tournaments will begin Thursday in Cut Bank. The District 2B Boys and Girls Basketball Tournaments will start Thursday in Malta.