HIT basketball returns to Havre this weekend

With another high school basketball season in the books, it is once again time to hold the Hi-Line Invitational Tournament at Armory Gymnasium on the Montana State University-Northern campus. In the 36th annual edition of the HIT, some of the best basketball players in the state of Montana will gather to compete this weekend. After being founded by Babsie Bishop all those years ago, Chris Mouat and the MSU-N basketball programs have looked to carry on the annual tradition.

"I think it's the longest-standing postseason tournament for kids in the state. It's been around a long time," Mouat said. "We're just happy to have it here at Northern and have our men's and women's basketball programs be able to bring these teams in and put on a show for them."

The teams in the tournament will be designated by their Class in high school basketball. On the Class A girls team, state champion Havre will be represented by freshmen Amaya Jarvis and Ariana Gary. The rest of the Class A girls team will consist of Lainey Smith from Miles City, Alyse Aby from Laurel, Mecca Bullchild from Browning, Jerel White Grass from Browning, Layne Kearns from Hamilton, Dymon Root from East Helena, Brooke Badovinac from Butte Central and Lish Spoonhunter from Browning.

On the Class A boys team, senior Xavier Butler will represent Havre. He will be joined by Eli Taylor from Hamilton, Eli Quinn from Frenchtown, Fisher Brown from Lewistown, Dougie Peoples from Butte Central, Michael Murphy from Glendive, Ryder Lee from Miles City, Asher Magness from Hamilton, Conner Michaud from Frenchtown and Royce Robinson from Lewistown. HHS boys basketball head coach Walynn Burgess will be coaching both the Class A boys and girls teams.

Other basketball players from the Hi-Line will be competing this weekend. On the Class C girls team, junior Hallie Neibauer will represent Chinook. Senior Laynie Sattoriva from North Star will also play for the Class C girls team. The rest of the team will include Paige Wasson from North County, Emma Konen from Twin Bridges, Layne Ellness from Roy-Winifred, Ava Bellach from Manhattan Christian, Teagan Erickson from North County and Isabelle Heggem from Roy-Winifred.

The Hi-Line will be well represented on the Class C boys team this weekend. Sophomore Tracen Jilot will represent Box Elder while senior Blake Harmon will represent Chester-Joplin-Inverness. After finishing second at state, Big Sandy will be represented by senior Braydon Cline. The rest of the team will consist of Seth Amunrud from Manhattan Christian, Mason Venema from Manhattan Christian, Bryce Grebe from Melstone, Kade Erickson from Broadview-Lavina, Bridger Vogl from Belt, Shad Boyce from Roy-Winifred and Mason Dethman from Froid-Medicine Lake.

Many other players will compete this weekend. The Class AA girls team will be made up of Avery Burkhart from Bozeman, Lauren Cummings from Billings Senior, Alex Bullock from Helena, Avery Kraft from Helena, Tailyn Black from Bozeman, Tyra Opperman from Bozeman, Ashlyn Jones from Great Falls, Kacey Christenson from CMR, Cadence Graham from Butte and Brityn Stewart from Butte.

The Class AA boys team will consist of Kellen Harrison from Bozeman, Josiah Cuaresma from Big Sky, Cooper Tyson from Billings West, Eli Hunter from Gallatin, Lane Love from Billings Skyview, Jaxan Lieberg from Helena, Donovyn Headswift from Hellgate, Billy Carlson from Billings West and Anthony Schacht from Billings Skyview.

The Class B girls team will be represented by Malea Egan from Colstrip, Madison O'Connor from Baker, Kameryn Kethcam from Sweet Grass County, Paige Lofing from Huntley Project, Ellie Baxter from Thompson Falls, Allison Kunze from Malta, Ada Bieler from Choteau, Bailey Finn from Sweet Grass, Maddie Williamson from Malta, Izzy Gurrie from Columbus, Gracie Millimen from Manhattan and Makena Patrick from Anaconda.

The Class B boys team will consist of Zoran Lafrombois from Mission, Stockton Oxarart from Malta, Treyton Wilkie from Malta, Delray Lilley from Poplar, Bohdi Brenden from Malta, Kaden Bishop from Malta, Ethan Stack from Missoula Loyola, Thomas Buchanan from Red Lodge, Mason Meier from Columbus, Hayden Steffenson from Columbus and Reynolds Johnston from Missoula Loyola.

The tournament will start tonight with the Class A girls playing the Class C girls at 5:30 p.m. The Class A boys will then play the Class C boys at 7 p.m. The tournament will then continue with several more games on Friday. The day will start with the Class A girls playing the Class AA girls at 8 a.m. The Class A boys will then play the Class AA boys at 9:30 a.m.

The tournament will continue with the Class C girls playing the Class B girls at 11 a.m. The Class C boys will then play the Class B boys at 12:30 p.m. Then at 2 p.m., the Class A girls will play the Class B girls. At 3:30 p.m., the Class A boys will play the Class B boys.

The tournament will then hold its skills challenges with the 3-point contest and the slam dunk contest starting at 5 p.m. Right after at 6 p.m., the Class AA girls will play the Class C girls. The day will wrap up at 7:30 p.m. with the Class AA boys playing the Class C boys.

The tournament will then wrap up on Saturday. The Class B girls will face the Class AA girls at 9 a.m. to start the day. The Class B boys will then face the Class AA boys at 10:30 a.m. Then at noon, the girls consolation game will be held. Right after at 1:30 p.m., the boys consolation game will be played.

The tournament will then wrap up with the girls and boys championship games at 3 and 4:30 p.m. With all these games this weekend, there will be plenty of chances for these athletes to showcase their talents.

"I think we're going to see some great competition and I know we've got a lot of college coaches coming in that are excited about watching these kids," Mouat said. "I think it's just a good thing. It's good for Havre, it's good for Northern and it's certainly good for us to have these kids in our backyard."

The 36th annual HIT will begin tonight at 5:30 p.m. at the Armory Gymnasium on MSU-N campus.