Busy-Ness

Wow! What a weekend here in Great Falls. It was busy to say the least here in the Electric City, but I guess that's just the nature of the news business. I'm still recovering after 40 different high school divisional basketball tournament games just here in the Electric City alone! And while I know it would have been impossible to see everyone of them, I know any of you who attended a basketball game at either the Four Seasons Arena or the CMR Fieldhouse this weekend that it was an incredible show!

Let's begin in the Northern C. The excitement all tipped off at 1 pm on Wednesday afternoon between the Winifred Red Raiders and the Big Sandy Pioneers. The game could have easily been the divisional tournament championship game, and quite honestly, it was too bad to see the two square off in the first round. It turned into a back and forth game until the end. Big Sandy's Ryne Labuda was unbelievable from the outside, but Winifred's Brian Foran stole the show by dunking in the final seconds of the game while the Red Raiders defeated the Pioneers in an emotional 65-56 bout!

The biggest crowd for the Northern C had to be the boys championship game between Winifred and Rocky Boy. Both teams stood 1...2...in the latest Class C poll, and neither team disappointed. The Stars built an 8 point lead in the 4th quarter to see it all crumble apart when the Red Raiders went on an 18-2 run to go on to win the divisional's top prize after a 60-53 win. In my mind, that makes them the frontrunner heading into the state tournament this weekend, while Rocky Boy will have to battle it out against their district friends, Big Sandy, in the first round, which could be a bout for the Class C's other championship game seed.

In the ladies' Northern C, it's tough to forget the Highwood-Big Sandy bout. The two undefeateds going up against each other may have been the best girls basketball game of the year. The Lady Mountaineers seemed to come out either rusty, or nervous as Big Sandy built a 16 point lead. But Highwood came back in the end to pull within 1 before running out of time. They'll be the Northern C's third seed, but don't be surprised to see both of them back in the championship game.

And finally, the Central A brought just as much excitement. In the boys championship game, Browning came from behind in the 4th quarter in front of more than 3,000 fans jammed in the CMR Fieldhouse to watch the Indians defeat Butte Central, earning Browning another ticket to state. But I thought the Central A challenge game was just as exciting on Monday. The Fergus boys came out with authority early on, building a 3 point lead at the half before extending it twice to 6 in the 3rd quarter. But the Maroons put on a show in the 4th, shooting 4 for 4 from 3 point range proving to be too much. However, Fergus continued to knock down shots and even pulled within 3 with 17 seconds left in the game before Butte Central finally put it away.

That's just a simple recap of the weekend that was here in the Electric City. If the divisional tournaments are any preview of what lies ahead at state, then we're all in for a real treat in the next two weeks!