Glacier High School is hosting the boys and girls Northwestern A Divisional Basketball Tournament this weekend with the first round of both beginning tonight.

Both Columbia Falls basketball programs hold the first seed in their respective brackets and will look to continue their winning ways in the postseason.

“During the first 18 games you want to prepare yourself for this time of the season,” Columbia Falls head coach Cary FInberg said, “Getting the number one seed with both (the boys’ and girls’) teams is important. It’s a new season now and we know anything can happen.”

In the boys bracket, the Wildcats (14-4 overall, 7-1 Northwestern A), ranked fourth in the state, await the winner of Polson and Libby who tip-off tonight at 7:30 p.m. 

Polson (4-14, 2-6) has defeated Libby (1-17, 0-8) twice this season and will hope for another victory over the Loggers, who are winless in the conference.

“The boys’ have been through this before. We’ve got a lot of guys with divisional and state tournament experience and success with that experience,” Finberg said. “Regardless if we play Polson or Libby, they know what they need to do and what it takes to be successful.”

The semifinal game against Columbia Falls will be Friday at 6 p.m. with the second semifinal coming directly afterwards at 7:30 p.m.

The second semifinal will feature second seeded Frenchtown (12-6, 6-2) and the third seeded Whitefish Bulldogs (10-8, 5-3). Whitefish split the season series with the Horsemen, and the winner of this game, the third between the two schools, will advance to the Divisional championship with a chance to earn a birth to the state tournament.

The consolation games will take place on Saturday, as will the championship game scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

The girl’s tournament will fall on the same days as the boys and has the same first seeded team.

The Wildkats (17-1, 8-0) have yet to lose a conference game and are ranked  and will play the winner of Thursday match-up, featuring fourth seeded Polson (3-15, 2-6) and fifth seeded Whitefish (1-17, 0-8).

“When we practice with our depth we feel we’re getting quality intensity in practice. We feel like we’re ready to go. We’re not gong to get much better experience that what we’ve seen so far this season,” Finberg added.

The Lady Pirates swept the season series with the Lady Bulldogs and will look for a third straight win over Whitefish as the teams are set to tip-off at 6 p.m.

Frenchtown (13-5, 6-2) and Libby (7-11, 4-4) square off in the semifinal in the bottom half of the divisional bracket on Friday at 4:30 p.m.

The girls divisional championship game is at 6 p.m. on Saturday.