As the Class AA boys state basketball tournament gets underway on Thursday, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the history of Flathead High School’s state championship success. Glacier, in only its third year of existence, hasn’t yet won a state tournament game.
In 1912, Flathead High School made it to the championship game of the second state boys basketball tournament ever held, losing to Anaconda 49-13. The year before, Butte had beaten Anaconda 27-20 in the first state high school basketball championship. There were no classes at the time.
Following that loss in 1912, Flathead didn’t make it to another state title game until 1951, when the Braves defeated Great Falls 65-55 in the Class A championship. Flathead repeated the following year, beating Helena 45-43.
The next time Flathead made it to the title game was 1968, when Wolf Point defeated the Braves 71-55 for the Class A championship. The following year, Flathead lost to Laurel in the championship 57-54.
Then in 1970, the third time was the charm, as the Braves defeated Helena 80-63 in the AA title, ending their two-year losing streak in the championship game.
In the 1980s, Flathead made it to the Class AA title game three times, beating Missoula Hellgate 59-56 in 1982, losing to Missoula Sentinel 60-49 in 1986 and beating Butte 53-50 in 1989.
Since that last state title in 1989, the Braves have made it to the championship game twice, losing both times. They lost to Helena 65-55 in 1991 and Bozeman 74-43 in 2003.