Three out of fall’s five sports seasons are done, with only volleyball and football still winding down.
Over the weekend, Libby wrapped up the soccer season by winning the Class A boys state title. The Loggers beat Belgrade 2-0 on Oct. 30 to claim their second title. Their first came in 2008.
Meanwhile, the Whitefish girls nearly gave Northwest Montana two state champions but fell just short in the Class A state title game. The Lady Bulldogs lost to their old nemesis Billings Central 4-1.
Central also defeated Whitefish earlier this season, in last year’s state semifinals and in the 2008 title game. Whitefish beat Central in the 2006 championship match.
Rounding out the rest of Northwestern A’s representatives at state were Whitefish and Polson in boys, and Bigfork and Columbia Falls in girls. Whitefish lost to Livingston in the first round, while Polson beat Corvallis but lost to Belgrade in the semifinals. The Bigfork and Columbia Falls girls both lost in the first round.
In Class AA girls, the Flathead Bravettes finished fourth after losing to Helena Capital 2-1 in overtime of the consolation game on Oct. 30. Billings West defeated Billings Senior 2-0 in overtime to win the title. The Bravettes were Western AA’s second seed.
For Class AA boys, Helena slipped past cross-town rival Helena Capital in the championship match to claim the title. After both teams failed to score a goal in regulation and overtime, Helena won the shootout to seal the victory. Billings Senior beat Bozeman in the consolation game.
Glacier, the fourth seed in Western AA boys, was held scoreless in both of its games at the tournament. The Wolfpack lost 2-0 to Billings Senior in the first round and then 2-0 again to Bozeman in a loser-out game.
The Flathead Valley still has a few championship hopes alive in other sports. In football, Polson edged Frenchtown in double overtime 27-21 in the first round of the Class A football tournament. The Pirates, Northwestern A’s third seed, will now face Central A’s top seed Butte Central in the quarterfinals on Saturday.
Columbia Falls, Northwestern A’s top seed, had a first-round bye and will host a quarterfinal game against Eastern A No. 2 Miles City on Saturday. Miles City beat Havre 54-26 in the first round.
The other quarterfinal games at the Class A tourney are Southwestern No. 3 Stevensville at Central No. 1 Billings Central and Central No. 2 Belgrade at Southwestern No. 1 Dillon. Northwestern No. 2 Libby lost to Stevensville 19-14 in the first round.
In Class B, Bigfork avenged an early-season loss to Missoula Loyola Sacred Heart by beating Loyola 41-31 on Oct. 30 at home in the first round of the state tournament. The Vikings will host Townsend on Nov. 6 in the quarterfinals.
The other Class B quarterfinal matchups are Cut Bank against Colstrip, Columbus at Manhattan/Manhattan Christian and Fairfield at Superior.
Volleyball’s regular season is over and state qualifying games are held this week. In Class AA, Western AA No. 5 Flathead travels to No. 4 Helena Capital for a play-in game at 7 p.m. on Nov. 5. The winner moves on to the Class AA state tournament in Bozeman on Nov. 11-13.
As Western AA’s top seed, Glacier doesn’t have a play-in game. The Wolfpack have a bye to the state tournament.
For volleyball teams in Classes A, B and C, divisional tournaments are scheduled this week for a chance to move on to their respective state tournaments, which are all held in Bozeman on Nov. 11-13.
The Northwestern A divisional tournament is at Columbia Falls High School on Nov. 5-6. The top two teams out of five advance to state. The tournament’s seeding, in order, goes Polson, Whitefish, Ronan, Libby and then Columbia Falls.