News you can use
News you can use
The Fort Benton Longhorns will be part of this week's District 9C girls basketball tournament, which runs Thursday through Saturday at Havre High Gymnasium.
It's been a fast and furious season of girls basketball on the Hi-Line. And now, the District 9C girls tournament is finally here as seven teams will come to the Havre High gymnasium Thursday through Saturday in search of postseason glory.
And two of those teams are looking to be back on top where they once ruled.
The Chester-Joplin-Inverness Hawks and Big Sandy Pioneers tied for the regular season 9C championship, each going 11-1 in league play. The Hawks (15-2) held tiebreakers over the Pioneers (15-3) and will be the No. 1 seed, but both teams are the heavy favorites to be playing the championship game Saturday night.
The Hawks will have the bye in the first-round as the 9C was reduced to seven teams this season following three-time defending champion Chinook's move up to Class B.
On CJII's side of the bracket, fourth-seeded Box Elder (8-10), another perennial 9C powerhouse, will play Turner (5-13) in the first game of the girls first round of the tournament. Both teams have struggled at times this season, but one of them will be assured of a semifinal berth.
On the other side of the bracket, third-seeded Fort Benton (11-7), which has won five 9C girls titles since joining the league, as well as the 2021 Class C state championship, will face off against North Star (7-10). The Knights were in the 9C championship game a year ago, and while they struggled in league play, the game between them and the Longhorns should be a barn burner.
The winner of the Fort Benton/North Star game, which tips off at 4 p.m. Thursday, will face either the Pioneers, or Hays-Lodge Pole in the other semifinal. The T-Birds (5-13) played in the consolation game a year ago, but lost a lot to graduation, and wound up finishing last in the regular season.
Still, HLP, like Turner and North Star, will still be big threats this week in Havre because as always, the 9C is loaded, as three teams hope to advance to next week's Northern C in Great Falls.
The 9C girls tournament will continue Friday with loser-out games at 9:30 a.m. and the semifinals Friday at 4 and 5:30 p.m. Saturday will see the loser-out games at 9:30 and 11 a.m. as well as the consolation game at 7 p.m. The 9C girls championship game is set for Saturday at 8:30 p.m. and all the action will take place at the Havre High gymnansium.
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