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.

[John K]

So here is how I recall the history of AA basketball and football. Before Billings Skyview began playing in AA in the 1986-87 school year (they actually opened for the 1985-86 school year, but played in Class B the first year), there were 16 teams in AA:

East - Billings Senior, West, Bozeman, Butte, Great Falls High, CMR, Helena High, & Capital
West - Flathead, Missoula Big Sky, Hellgate, Sentinel, Anaconda, Columbia Falls, Havre & Libby

They had divisional tournaments for basketball during this era, and the top two teams from each division made the playoffs for football with East #1 playing West #2, and West #1 playing East #2 in the first round/semi-finals.

After Skyview opened, the four smallest schools, Anaconda, C-Falls, Havre, & Libby all dropped down to Class A, leaving 13 schools in AA, and then 14 after Glacier opened in the late 2000's. Beginning with the 1986 season, there were no divisions for football for many years , initially with only the top 4 teams making the playoffs, and then expanding to the top 8 in the early 2000's. For basketball, before Glacier opened, the divisional alignment was:

East - Senior, Skyview, West, GFH, CMR, Bozeman
West - Big Sky, Sentinel, Hellgate, Flathead, Helena High, Capital, Butte

After Glacier opened, Butte was moved to the East, so there would be 7 teams in each division. I believe the era when football had no divisions was almost or completely aligned with the era when basketball had no divisional tournaments, beginning with the 1986-87 school year. I don't think either of those things changed until Gallatin opened and Belgrade moved up to AA in the late 2010's, giving AA 16 teams again. That's when football went back to having two divisions, and basketball went back to playing divisional tournaments.

With the format used from the late 80's through the late 2010's, there were no divisional basketball tournaments, but every team was eligible for postseason play. The top one or teams in each division (depending upon whether there were 6 or 7 teams in the division) got byes into the state tournament, with the remaining teams playing intra-division play-in games, seed #2 played seed #7, #3 played #6, and #4 played #5 within each division. So that is the major difference between the format which was used for so many years and the new format. Back then, every team was eligible for post-season play, even though it was just a one game playoff rather than an actual tournament. Now, the bottom two teams in each division are not eligible for post-season play at all.

Now that I think more about it, I believe AA did continue playing divisional basketball tournaments briefly, even after Skyview opened and the four smaller schools dropped down to Class A in the late 1980's, but that only lasted for a few years. I believe it was the very early 90's, when AA eliminated divisional tournaments, and went to the intra-division play-in games.

[RUACAT]

Helena High vs. Butte part 2 tonight in Helena. If you can, do yourself a favor a favor and watch the highlights. Jaxan Lieberg won’t disappoint.

[kennethnoisewater]

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

I've been to a lot of divisional tournaments in every classification. The smaller the classification, the bigger a deal it is for the most part. First of all, as someone else mentioned, there are more teams in the lower classifications, so you have to pare that down somehow. It's a bummer that some kids don't get a tournament experience, but I kind of think playing in a tournament is a privilege earned by the top players and teams. Just like a trophy is earned by the better players and teams, not by all who participate.

But these tournaments are a much bigger deal the smaller the community, although a few towns in bigger classifications are exceptions (Butte, Dillon, Browning, Columbia Falls, Lewistown, Havre, and probably others). At a AA divisional or even state tournament, you get parents, boyfriends/girlfriends of players, the band, and maybe a few die-hard older people coming out to cheer on their team. At a Class C tournament, you have to remember that between the players, pep band, and cheerleaders, you might have half the student body already there...if not more. So then the rest of the student body might as well show up, plus the parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. At this point that crowd is already the same as a AA tournament, because it's about the same amount of players and families. But when Scobey or St. Regis makes a tournament, you can count on about half the town showing up, because it's the biggest thing going. Plus it's their chance to get to the big city and shop in a Target or eat in an Olive Garden. Give me a class B or C state tournament any day over a AA tournament, even though that AA tournament is better basketball.

In most years, the highest-earning state tournaments are Class B and C, bringing in over $100,000 that goes back to the participants to cover their costs, then is split among all the teams in that classification. In a lot of years, the highest-grossing tournament in Montana is the Southern B Divisional, held at the Metra. I'm a big believer that the Southern B won't split up and reconfigure (even though Western and Northern B each have far fewer schools) because they get a big chunk of money from that tournament.

[tetoncat]

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

I've been to a lot of divisional tournaments in every classification. The smaller the classification, the bigger a deal it is for the most part. First of all, as someone else mentioned, there are more teams in the lower classifications, so you have to pare that down somehow. It's a bummer that some kids don't get a tournament experience, but I kind of think playing in a tournament is a privilege earned by the top players and teams. Just like a trophy is earned by the better players and teams, not by all who participate.

But these tournaments are a much bigger deal the smaller the community, although a few towns in bigger classifications are exceptions (Butte, Dillon, Browning, Columbia Falls, Lewistown, Havre, and probably others). At a AA divisional or even state tournament, you get parents, boyfriends/girlfriends of players, the band, and maybe a few die-hard older people coming out to cheer on their team. At a Class C tournament, you have to remember that between the players, pep band, and cheerleaders, you might have half the student body already there...if not more. So then the rest of the student body might as well show up, plus the parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. At this point that crowd is already the same as a AA tournament, because it's about the same amount of players and families. But when Scobey or St. Regis makes a tournament, you can count on about half the town showing up, because it's the biggest thing going. Plus it's their chance to get to the big city and shop in a Target or eat in an Olive Garden. Give me a class B or C state tournament any day over a AA tournament, even though that AA tournament is better basketball.

In most years, the highest-earning state tournaments are Class B and C, bringing in over $100,000 that goes back to the participants to cover their costs, then is split among all the teams in that classification. In a lot of years, the highest-grossing tournament in Montana is the Southern B Divisional, held at the Metra. I'm a big believer that the Southern B won't split up and reconfigure (even though Western and Northern B each have far fewer schools) because they get a big chunk of money from that tournament.

Class B 12 in West, 13 in North going to 15 next year, 20 in South. Seems like 3 or 4 of those are newer? Joliet, Lone Peak, Park City, Ennis and St Labre seems like they bounce. Definitely larger now. With change in enrollment requirements they may not have a choice.

You are correct in smaller school divisionals.Class C get great crowds going to bigger regional towns. B depends on where they are at and West and North don't get same crowds except maybe Fri and Sat night if teams are within driving distance

[kennethnoisewater]

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

I've been to a lot of divisional tournaments in every classification. The smaller the classification, the bigger a deal it is for the most part. First of all, as someone else mentioned, there are more teams in the lower classifications, so you have to pare that down somehow. It's a bummer that some kids don't get a tournament experience, but I kind of think playing in a tournament is a privilege earned by the top players and teams. Just like a trophy is earned by the better players and teams, not by all who participate.

But these tournaments are a much bigger deal the smaller the community, although a few towns in bigger classifications are exceptions (Butte, Dillon, Browning, Columbia Falls, Lewistown, Havre, and probably others). At a AA divisional or even state tournament, you get parents, boyfriends/girlfriends of players, the band, and maybe a few die-hard older people coming out to cheer on their team. At a Class C tournament, you have to remember that between the players, pep band, and cheerleaders, you might have half the student body already there...if not more. So then the rest of the student body might as well show up, plus the parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. At this point that crowd is already the same as a AA tournament, because it's about the same amount of players and families. But when Scobey or St. Regis makes a tournament, you can count on about half the town showing up, because it's the biggest thing going. Plus it's their chance to get to the big city and shop in a Target or eat in an Olive Garden. Give me a class B or C state tournament any day over a AA tournament, even though that AA tournament is better basketball.

In most years, the highest-earning state tournaments are Class B and C, bringing in over $100,000 that goes back to the participants to cover their costs, then is split among all the teams in that classification. In a lot of years, the highest-grossing tournament in Montana is the Southern B Divisional, held at the Metra. I'm a big believer that the Southern B won't split up and reconfigure (even though Western and Northern B each have far fewer schools) because they get a big chunk of money from that tournament.

Class B 12 in West, 13 in North going to 15 next year, 20 in South. Seems like 3 or 4 of those are newer? Joliet, Lone Peak, Park City, Ennis and St Labre seems like they bounce. Definitely larger now. With change in enrollment requirements they may not have a choice.

You are correct in smaller school divisionals.Class C get great crowds going to bigger regional towns. B depends on where they are at and West and North don't get same crowds except maybe Fri and Sat night if teams are within driving distance

My beef with the Southern B is how they've always gotten more teams in to state because they have more teams. Yet there have been many years they could have split into two divisions or maybe sent a couple teams like Townsend or Three Forks or Manhattan over to a southwest division to get somewhere closer to an even number of teams among the divisions. Then the North and West (where the majority of boys' state champions have come from in the last 20 years or so) are only getting two teams in to state while the south gets four. And it's a totally different divisional experience for them in terms of how they qualify. You could lose TWICE at Southern B divisionals and still get to state, while a team from the north or west often loses once at divisionals and doesn't get a chance to qualify for state.

And I'm not sure if you've been to a Class B state tournament where you have Shelby, Wolf Point, Rocky Boy, Bigfork (now Class A), or Malta...those schools/towns travel as well as anyone in the Southern B, and better than most. Although you're right about the west...I'd say none of the current schools/towns in Western B travel particularly well compared to much of the Northern and Southern B.