Area teams advance on Northern C day one

One of the biggest postseason basketball tournaments in the state is underway.

Wednesday in Great Falls, the 2024 Northern C Divisional Tournament got underway, with four local teams playing.

In the opening game of the Northern C boys tournament, Fort Benton was defeated by Heart Butte, 71-56. The Longhorns, who played third at last week’s District 9C, were led by Kellen Diekhans, who had five points and 16 rebounds. 

The loss dropped the Longhorns into a loser-out game this morning against Roy-Winfred.

Te Raiders are in the loser-out bracket thanks to 9C champion Box Elder. On Wednesday night, the Bears took down the Raiders in the second game of the boys tournament, 64-42. The 9C champion Bears got 38 points and six threes from star Tracen Jillot, while Alex Four Colors had 10 points. The Bears will now play either Cascade or Winnett-Grass Range in the semifinals Friday.

The Northern C girls tournament also got underway Wednesday night with Big Sandy battling Simms in the first round. And while the Pioneers may have been the third-place team for the 9C, that didn’t stop them for crushing the Tigers 56-37 to advance to the quarterfinals against top seed Roy-Winifred this afternoon.

Kiera Galbavy and Jai Baumann each had nine points for the victorious Pioneers.

Unfortuntely, things did not go as well for the top seed from the 9C.

In the final game of the first day of the tournament, the Chester-Joplin-Inverness Hawks fell to Belt 61-51, The loss dropped the 9C champion Hawks into a loser-out game this morning.

The Northern C continues all day today at the Four Seasons Arena in Great Falls.