Northwestern A basketball will be wrapped up after tonight’s challenge games at Glacier High School. For boys, No. 1 Whitefish faces No. 3 Polson at 6 p.m. For girls, No. 3 Bigfork goes up against No. 4 Polson. The winners of each game move on to state. Both the Columbia Falls boys and girls won the divisional titles and have already secured their invitations to the state tournaments, which are held March 5-7 in Butte for the girls and March 12-14 in Great Falls for the boys.
The Class AA regional playoff bracket is now set as well. The regular season ended this weekend. Helena Capital, the top seed for Western AA, and C.M. Russell, the top seed for Eastern AA, have automatic byes to the boys state tournament. On the girls side, top seeds Missoula Big Sky and Butte have byes.
On Thursday night at 6 p.m., the Glacier girls host Helena High in a playoff game. The winner advances to the state tournament. Immediately following that game is a showdown between the Flathead and Glacier boys for a chance to go to state. Flathead’s girls head to Missoula Sentinel on Friday.
Here’s a look at the playoff games this week. The winners move on to the state tournament:
Western AA Boys: (Helena Capital receives bye to state)
No. 5 Missoula Sentinel @ No. 4 Helena High on Tuesday at 8 p.m.
No. 7 Flathead @ No. 2 Glacier on Thursday at 7 p.m.
No. 6 Missoula Hellgate @ No. 3 Missoula Big Sky on Friday at 7 p.m.Western AA Girls: (Missoula Big Sky receives bye to state)
No. 7 Missoula Hellgate @ No. 2 Helena Capital on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
No. 5 Helena High @ No. 4 Glacier on Thursday at 6 p.m.
No. 6 Flathead @ No. 3 Missoula Sentinel on Friday at 7 p.m.Eastern AA Boys: (C.M. Russell receives bye to state)
No. 7 Butte @ No. 2 Billings West on Thursday at 7 p.m.
No. 6 Billings Senior @ No. 3 Bozeman on Friday at 8 p.m.
No. 5 Great Falls @ No. 4 Billings Skyview on Saturday at 6 p.m.Eastern AA Girls: (Butte receives bye to state)
No. 6 Billings Skyview @ No. 3 C.M. Russell on Thursday at 6 p.m.
No. 7 Great Falls @ No. 2 Bozeman on Friday at 6:30 p.m.
No. 5 Billings Senior @ No. 4 Billings West on Saturday at 4 p.m.