In theory, it was and probably is, a sound move.

Take two small-school conferences and combine them into one larger conference with the objective of reducing travel costs and, most importantly, increasing competition. 

Those were two reasons the new Western 13C conference today is a combination of the 13C conference of years gone by and the Western 14C, its nearest competition neighbor. 

Each former conference had six member schools, given the simple math of 6+6 as they teach in those schools, the new 13C has 12 members. 

A nice, even number which comes in handy when setting up district tournaments like the one held this past week at Salish Kootenai College in Pablo. 

It was conceived as a formula to spread the wealth. Increased intra-conference play, the thinking went, would allow more teams from different schools to compete for a chance to advance to the Divisional round. It would give members of the former 14C conference a better chance at advancing to the next post-season level. 

No more domination by the likes of Philipsburg, Drummond, Seeley-Swan when it came to Divisional play. 

So, who are the top four teams headed for this year’s Western B Divisional tourney in Anaconda this week? Philipsburg, Drummond, Seeley-Swan and Charlo, the traditional power from the 14C. 

In the one-and-done “play-in” round this past Tuesday, Two Eagle River, Hot Springs and Alberton were eliminated before the “real” tournament began.  Those three schools, as you recall, were part of the 14C. 

Only St. Regis and Noxon moved out of the play-in round. 

In effect, that means the majority of teams moving on to the divisional round are, or were, members of the 13C. 

No whining, just fact, the schools from the 13C of days gone by play better volleyball overall and deserve to move on. 

But the three-out-of-four results for the old 13C did not advance one of the original arguments for creating the mega 13C. As for saving miles and thereby budgets, I haven’t heard if that really changed anything.  Noxon is still a long way from Philipsburg last time I looked. 

The big value is, I think, the likelihood the teams from the old 14C will get better via increased levels of competition.  I guess time will tell. 

School populations change seemingly yearly.  All it often takes is a solid incoming freshman class and success for four years can be at hand. 

But it sure seems like the old 13C had better or at least more frequent influxes and this year was no exception.  Charlo, which finished second at this year’s District 13C tourney represented the old 14C in fine fashion, taking Philipsburg to the limit, 3-2, in the championship match. 

In the meantime, volleyball in general has had a good year in this area, particularly in Class B play, where Thompson Falls and Plains have had good years with highly competitive games in the six-team 7B. Full gyms were the norm in Plains and T Falls this season. 

And that is a good sign.