2024/2025 High School Boys Basketball

[BelligerentBobcat]

For anybody in the Gallatin Valley that's bored tonight, Three Forks is hosting Manhattan Christian in basketball tonight. Three Forks is ranked #3 in Class B, Manhattan Christian ranked #3 in Class C.

One of the best rivalries for those of us who like small town hoops.

[tetoncat]

For anybody in the Gallatin Valley that's bored tonight, Three Forks is hosting Manhattan Christian in basketball tonight. Three Forks is ranked #3 in Class B, Manhattan Christian ranked #3 in Class C.

One of the best rivalries for those of us who like small town hoops.

Looks like Three Forks got the best of them. Christian looks solid, are they as talented as they have been last several years. Looks like it will be Scobey and Box Elder for C. Loyola still the only choice for B. AA and A seem like 4 or 5 teams with a chance

[MTCowpoke22]

The class C boys power poll is getting very interesting. It’s starting to resemble the late 1970s, other than the fact that almost everyone up there is now a class C school. Remember the late 70s? Here’s a brief synopsis of what happened over a six year period of time. 1975 State C championship all northeast (Westby vs Antelope). 1976 - Flaxville wins State C. NE teams did not make championship in 1977. In 1978 Plentywood wins B and Outlook wins C. 1979 was crazy. Scobey beat Plentywood for the class B title and Flaxville beat Peerless for the class C title. 1980 - Outlook beat Opheim for the state C title.

In the latest power poll from Montana sports.com, the Scobey boys are ranked #2, Circle is #4, Lustre Christian #5, and Plentywood #6. I’m sure that they are all very good, but Box Elder (with Jilot now on the court) will be tough to beat.

Can someone help me understand the dynamics of Lustre Christian and their roster? NE Montana has a very low population of African or Asian Americans. Class C schools very rarely have any diversity on the team except for native Americans.

https://www.lustrechristian.org/athletics/basketball/

EDIT: just found this article where they are a boarding school with kids from all across the world.

https://www.montanasports.com/high-scho ... que-roster

6’5”, 6’4”, 6’3” kids. Pretty interesting.

I've heard it's one of the most affordable Christian boarding schools in the nation for international students.

Lustre gets accused of recruiting kids, but finding high school kids who want to go to Lustre is just as hard as getting a 5 star QB to visit Greeley, CO. But they've been able to get their name out there and have been bringing in both international students for years. They're about to graduate out this recent bunch of basketball players so we'll see if they can keep it up in the future.

If Scobey avoids injury, they're going on another two year run of great basketball. This team is made up of a lot of little brothers of the 2020-2021 team, and they're all Juniors. They've already beat Plentywood, Circle, and Lustre each once, and two games were by 20+. I dunno if they can get by Box Elder this year, but it should be a good game if they meet up at State.

[tetoncat]

Tourney time for Classes B and C. Looks like 1 more week of conference play in A and AA. I had heard AA may not have divisional tournaments, if so how will State participants be determined.

[Cataholic]

Tourney time for Classes B and C. Looks like 1 more week of conference play in A and AA. I had heard AA may not have divisional tournaments, if so how will State participants be determined.

No AA divisionals this year. Top 2 in each conference get automatic bids to State. The next 4 teams in the standings have a one game playoff for the last two spots to state. The bottom two teams in the division are already eliminated from state.

[tetoncat]

Tourney time for Classes B and C. Looks like 1 more week of conference play in A and AA. I had heard AA may not have divisional tournaments, if so how will State participants be determined.

No AA divisionals this year. Top 2 in each conference get automatic bids to State. The next 4 teams in the standings have a one game playoff for the last two spots to state. The bottom two teams in the division are already eliminated from state.

Puts a premium on regular season. Will 3 play 6 and 4 play 5. Higher team hosts?.

[Cataholic]

Tourney time for Classes B and C. Looks like 1 more week of conference play in A and AA. I had heard AA may not have divisional tournaments, if so how will State participants be determined.

No AA divisionals this year. Top 2 in each conference get automatic bids to State. The next 4 teams in the standings have a one game playoff for the last two spots to state. The bottom two teams in the division are already eliminated from state.

Puts a premium on regular season. Will 3 play 6 and 4 play 5. Higher team hosts?.

That is my understanding. Kind of sucks though for the two schools from each conference that kids won’t get to experience divisionals.

[tetoncat]

Tourney time for Classes B and C. Looks like 1 more week of conference play in A and AA. I had heard AA may not have divisional tournaments, if so how will State participants be determined.

No AA divisionals this year. Top 2 in each conference get automatic bids to State. The next 4 teams in the standings have a one game playoff for the last two spots to state. The bottom two teams in the division are already eliminated from state.

Puts a premium on regular season. Will 3 play 6 and 4 play 5. Higher team hosts?.

That is my understanding. Kind of sucks though for the two schools from each conference that kids won’t get to experience divisionals.

Yep, they can be a lot of fun for players and other students. Not sure how B and C can afford district and divisional but AA can't justify a divisional. Maybe just not enough fan interest to cover costs.

[ilovethecats]

Tourney time for Classes B and C. Looks like 1 more week of conference play in A and AA. I had heard AA may not have divisional tournaments, if so how will State participants be determined.

No AA divisionals this year. Top 2 in each conference get automatic bids to State. The next 4 teams in the standings have a one game playoff for the last two spots to state. The bottom two teams in the division are already eliminated from state.

Puts a premium on regular season. Will 3 play 6 and 4 play 5. Higher team hosts?.

That is my understanding. Kind of sucks though for the two schools from each conference that kids won’t get to experience divisionals.

Yep, they can be a lot of fun for players and other students. Not sure how B and C can afford district and divisional but AA can't justify a divisional. Maybe just not enough fan interest to cover costs.

I haven't played AA hoops in a long time but when I did we didn't have divisionals. How long has this been a thing at the AA level? Guess I'm out of touch.

[MSU01]

Tourney time for Classes B and C. Looks like 1 more week of conference play in A and AA. I had heard AA may not have divisional tournaments, if so how will State participants be determined.

No AA divisionals this year. Top 2 in each conference get automatic bids to State. The next 4 teams in the standings have a one game playoff for the last two spots to state. The bottom two teams in the division are already eliminated from state.

Puts a premium on regular season. Will 3 play 6 and 4 play 5. Higher team hosts?.

That is my understanding. Kind of sucks though for the two schools from each conference that kids won’t get to experience divisionals.

Yep, they can be a lot of fun for players and other students. Not sure how B and C can afford district and divisional but AA can't justify a divisional. Maybe just not enough fan interest to cover costs.

I haven't played AA hoops in a long time but when I did we didn't have divisionals. How long has this been a thing at the AA level? Guess I'm out of touch.

The AA divisional tournaments started in the 2017-18 season. They're going back to the old format where the top 2 West teams and top 2 East teams get a first round bye and then the 3 vs 6 and 4 vs 5 from each region play first round games.

[ilovethecats]

Tourney time for Classes B and C. Looks like 1 more week of conference play in A and AA. I had heard AA may not have divisional tournaments, if so how will State participants be determined.

No AA divisionals this year. Top 2 in each conference get automatic bids to State. The next 4 teams in the standings have a one game playoff for the last two spots to state. The bottom two teams in the division are already eliminated from state.

Puts a premium on regular season. Will 3 play 6 and 4 play 5. Higher team hosts?.

That is my understanding. Kind of sucks though for the two schools from each conference that kids won’t get to experience divisionals.

Yep, they can be a lot of fun for players and other students. Not sure how B and C can afford district and divisional but AA can't justify a divisional. Maybe just not enough fan interest to cover costs.

I haven't played AA hoops in a long time but when I did we didn't have divisionals. How long has this been a thing at the AA level? Guess I'm out of touch.

The AA divisional tournaments started in the 2017-18 season. They're going back to the old format where the top 2 West teams and top 2 East teams get a first round bye and then the 3 vs 6 and 4 vs 5 from each region play first round games.

Gotcha Thanks!

[Cataholic]

Tourney time for Classes B and C. Looks like 1 more week of conference play in A and AA. I had heard AA may not have divisional tournaments, if so how will State participants be determined.

No AA divisionals this year. Top 2 in each conference get automatic bids to State. The next 4 teams in the standings have a one game playoff for the last two spots to state. The bottom two teams in the division are already eliminated from state.

Puts a premium on regular season. Will 3 play 6 and 4 play 5. Higher team hosts?.

That is my understanding. Kind of sucks though for the two schools from each conference that kids won’t get to experience divisionals.

Yep, they can be a lot of fun for players and other students. Not sure how B and C can afford district and divisional but AA can't justify a divisional. Maybe just not enough fan interest to cover costs.

I haven't played AA hoops in a long time but when I did we didn't have divisionals. How long has this been a thing at the AA level? Guess I'm out of touch.

The AA divisional tournaments started in the 2017-18 season. They're going back to the old format where the top 2 West teams and top 2 East teams get a first round bye and then the 3 vs 6 and 4 vs 5 from each region play first round games.

Gotcha Thanks!

Actually, divisionals was the historic norm in AA through about 1990, maybe later. I am not sure when it went away, but came back around 2017.

Here is an article why it went away this year. I really don’t get it as A, B and C have districts and divisionals.

https://www.swxlocalsports.com/montana/ ... c0757.html

[ilovethecats]

Tourney time for Classes B and C. Looks like 1 more week of conference play in A and AA. I had heard AA may not have divisional tournaments, if so how will State participants be determined.

No AA divisionals this year. Top 2 in each conference get automatic bids to State. The next 4 teams in the standings have a one game playoff for the last two spots to state. The bottom two teams in the division are already eliminated from state.

Puts a premium on regular season. Will 3 play 6 and 4 play 5. Higher team hosts?.

That is my understanding. Kind of sucks though for the two schools from each conference that kids won’t get to experience divisionals.

Yep, they can be a lot of fun for players and other students. Not sure how B and C can afford district and divisional but AA can't justify a divisional. Maybe just not enough fan interest to cover costs.

I haven't played AA hoops in a long time but when I did we didn't have divisionals. How long has this been a thing at the AA level? Guess I'm out of touch.

The AA divisional tournaments started in the 2017-18 season. They're going back to the old format where the top 2 West teams and top 2 East teams get a first round bye and then the 3 vs 6 and 4 vs 5 from each region play first round games.

Gotcha Thanks!

Actually, divisionals was the historic norm in AA through about 1990, maybe later. I am not sure when it went away, but came back around 2017.

Here is an article why it went away this year. I really don’t get it as A, B and C have districts and divisionals.

https://www.swxlocalsports.com/montana/ ... c0757.html

My time playing AA basketball was in the 90's so I never experienced it. I figured it was just that there are so many more A, B and C teams in the state that divisionals were necessary. Though I think there were 14 then and only 16 now so not the biggest difference. I remember some "play-in" games for state but that's it. Interesting.

[Cataholic]

Tourney time for Classes B and C. Looks like 1 more week of conference play in A and AA. I had heard AA may not have divisional tournaments, if so how will State participants be determined.

No AA divisionals this year. Top 2 in each conference get automatic bids to State. The next 4 teams in the standings have a one game playoff for the last two spots to state. The bottom two teams in the division are already eliminated from state.

Puts a premium on regular season. Will 3 play 6 and 4 play 5. Higher team hosts?.

That is my understanding. Kind of sucks though for the two schools from each conference that kids won’t get to experience divisionals.

Yep, they can be a lot of fun for players and other students. Not sure how B and C can afford district and divisional but AA can't justify a divisional. Maybe just not enough fan interest to cover costs.

I haven't played AA hoops in a long time but when I did we didn't have divisionals. How long has this been a thing at the AA level? Guess I'm out of touch.

The AA divisional tournaments started in the 2017-18 season. They're going back to the old format where the top 2 West teams and top 2 East teams get a first round bye and then the 3 vs 6 and 4 vs 5 from each region play first round games.

Gotcha Thanks!

Actually, divisionals was the historic norm in AA through about 1990, maybe later. I am not sure when it went away, but came back around 2017.

Here is an article why it went away this year. I really don’t get it as A, B and C have districts and divisionals.

https://www.swxlocalsports.com/montana/ ... c0757.html

My time playing AA basketball was in the 90's so I never experienced it. I figured it was just that there are so many more A, B and C teams in the state that divisionals were necessary. Though I think there were 14 then and only 16 now so not the biggest difference. I remember some "play-in" games for state but that's it. Interesting.

I actually forgot about AA only having 14 teams. It might have even been fewer than 14 at one point. Belgrade was Class A and Glacier and Gallatin were not in existence in the 90’s. I believe that Columbia Falls, Libby, Havre and Anaconda were all Class AA schools till the mid-80’s making AA have as many as 17 schools at that time.

[ilovethecats]

No AA divisionals this year. Top 2 in each conference get automatic bids to State. The next 4 teams in the standings have a one game playoff for the last two spots to state. The bottom two teams in the division are already eliminated from state.

Puts a premium on regular season. Will 3 play 6 and 4 play 5. Higher team hosts?.

That is my understanding. Kind of sucks though for the two schools from each conference that kids won’t get to experience divisionals.

Yep, they can be a lot of fun for players and other students. Not sure how B and C can afford district and divisional but AA can't justify a divisional. Maybe just not enough fan interest to cover costs.

I haven't played AA hoops in a long time but when I did we didn't have divisionals. How long has this been a thing at the AA level? Guess I'm out of touch.

The AA divisional tournaments started in the 2017-18 season. They're going back to the old format where the top 2 West teams and top 2 East teams get a first round bye and then the 3 vs 6 and 4 vs 5 from each region play first round games.

Gotcha Thanks!

Actually, divisionals was the historic norm in AA through about 1990, maybe later. I am not sure when it went away, but came back around 2017.

Here is an article why it went away this year. I really don’t get it as A, B and C have districts and divisionals.

https://www.swxlocalsports.com/montana/ ... c0757.html

My time playing AA basketball was in the 90's so I never experienced it. I figured it was just that there are so many more A, B and C teams in the state that divisionals were necessary. Though I think there were 14 then and only 16 now so not the biggest difference. I remember some "play-in" games for state but that's it. Interesting.

I actually forgot about AA only having 14 teams. It might have even been fewer than 14 at one point. Belgrade was Class A and Glacier and Gallatin were not in existence in the 90’s. I believe that Columbia Falls, Libby, Havre and Anaconda were all Class AA schools till the mid-80’s making AA have as many as 17 schools at that time.

And if I remember correctly, which I may not, I think there were 12 AA schools during my time in the 90's:

Flathead
Hellgate
Sentinal
Big Sky
Butte
Helena High
Capital
Skyview
West
Senior
Great Falls
CMR
Bozeman

Since my glory years there has been 3 added in Belgrade, Glacier and Gallatin.

I'm surprised even at 16 teams they went the route of divisionals but makes sense why in the 90's I didn't recall them!

I do remember the 4B tourney being played at Bozeman High and we'd get to go watch games instead of going to class. That was my first time seeing a bruiser by the name of Adam Cordeiro.