Stillwater Christian School will have the honor of opening and closing bracket play at the Montana Christian Athletic Association state basketball tournament at the Paris Gibson Education Center in Great Falls.

Action begins today with the Stillwater girls (7-12) facing Yellowstone County Homeschool. That game tips off at 11:30 a.m. and is the first of four games for girls.

The Stillwater boys (18-2) close first-day action with a 7:30 p.m. contest against Heritage Christian School. That’s the fourth, and final, game for boys today.

The Stillwater boys are the top seed from the Western Division while the Stillwater girls are No. 2.

Flathead Valley Homeschool is the top seed for girls (15-4) in the Western Division. The Crusaders were 4-0 in league action.

FVHS boys are seeded second.

The homeschool girls play Gallatin Valley at 4:30 p.m. today while the homeschool boys are on the court at 8:30 a.m. versus Billings Christian.

The tournament runs through Saturday.

“It will be good to watch the other teams play,” Stillwater boys coach Dana Hashley said.

It will also be helpful for Hashley and his players in terms of scouting. Stillwater did not play many of the Eastern teams during the regular season so this will give them the opportunity to take a look at possible future foes at state.

“Very little,” Hashley said what he knows about his first-round opponent, or the other Eastern teams.

“We know Gallatin is a very good team. They scored 97 points against the second seed Foothills. Foothills was undefeated until that game.”

Stillwater’s two losses were to the JV teams from Flathead and Glacier. The Cougars tuned up for state by beating Plains and St. Ignatius, Class B schools in the Montana High School Association, and Bonners Ferry, Idaho. All were non-conference affairs.

The win over Plains was in double overtime.

“Any close game helps you play better,” Hashley said.

“The last three games we played really well. I hope we continue to play at that high level and play our best basketball this weekend.”

The Cougars have three all-state players back from last year’s state championship squad. Isaac Neumann, who was the state tournament MVP in 2015, is a 6-foot-3 junior guard averaging 20.6 points and 6.5 rebounds per game.

BJ Bach, now a 6-0 senior guard, is averaging 13.7 points and 3.6 steals while Clayton Hashley, a 6-2 senior guard, is at 8.5 points and 4.6 assists.

Stillwater has also benefitted this season with the contributions by Joe Hooker, a 6-5 junior center. He is averaging 13.7 points and 9.9 rebounds.

Montana Christian Athletic Association

State Basketball Tournament

Thursday-Saturday

At Paris Gibson Education Center (Great Falls)

Girls Seeds

East

Foothills Community Christian School

Billings Christian School

Yellowstone County Homeschool

Gallatin Valley Homeschool

Heritage Christian School

West

Flathead Valley Homeschool

Stillwater Christian School

Helena Christian School

First Round

Thursday

11:30 a.m. — Stillwater Christian (7-12) vs. Yellowstone County

1 p.m. — Foothills Community vs. Heritage Christian

3 p.m. — Billings Christian vs. Helena Christian

4:30 p.m. — Flathead Valley vs. Gallatin Valley

Boys Seeds

East

Gallatin Valley Homeschool

Foothills Community Christian School

Billings Christian School

Heritage Christian School

West

Stillwater Christian

Flahtead Valley Homeschool

Helena Christian School

Helena Homeschool

First Round

Thursday

8:30 a.m. — Billings Christian vs. Flathead Valley

10 a.m. — Gallatin Valley vs. Helena Homeschool

6 p.m. — Foothills Community vs. Helena Christian

7:30 p.m. — Stillwater Christian (18-2) vs. Heritage Christian