A few lopsided wins along the way notwithstanding, the best word to describe this first salvo of B-C playoff basketball in the Western regions of this wonderful state is...”phheeewwww.” 

Yeee-haaa took second. 

From a pair of last-minute wins by the St. Regis boys in the Western 13C district tournament and the down-to-the-wire win by tournament host St. Ignatius over Thompson Falls in the girls Western District 7B event, post-season basketball is off and running. 

One of the best games of the tournament, St. Regis (20-1 on the year) escaped a thrilling, grind-it-out, 42-20 win over Seeley-Swan (14-8), stunning pre-tourney co-favorite Lincoln in the semi-finals this past Friday to reach the finals against the Tigers. 

That game was still in doubt as the final seconds ticked away, with St. Regis holding off the determined Blackhawks, setting off a loud and proud celebration at mid-court of tournament host Frenchtown High’s awesome gym. 

Up the road in St. Ignatius, the Lady Bulldogs of Mission High, the host school for the 7B championships, also held on for a two-point championship win over Thompson Falls, 53-51. 

It was a mostly well-attended first round of games in St. Ignatius and Frenchtown, which by all accounts handled their responsibilities well. It would maybe be good to find sites for these tournaments that do not provide a home-court advantage, as was the case in St. Ignatius.  Nothing nefarious implied, but a completely level playing field is ideal. 

Hats off to the organizers and school personnel who helped put on these two tournaments, which now move to Butte (Class C) and Hamilton (Class B) for the Divisional round which leads to a place at the state championship meets two weeks hence. 

In both of this past weekends’ Western tournaments, Sanders and Mineral Counties fared well, with Thompson Falls’ first-place boys’ finish and the second place showing by the T Falls girls leading the way. 

Mineral County was well-repped by the St. Regis Boys, who finished the regular season in a three-way, 10-1 conference tangle with Lincoln and Noxon.  Coach Jesse Allan and crew fought back from an early deficit and pulled ahead by a handful of points in the second half before holding off a determined Seely-Swan team before a good-sized crowd in Frenchtown. 

The only lopsided championship game of the dozens that took place this past weekend was Thompson Falls boys’ 67-43 win over Troy, one of the surprise teams of the season. 

The Blue Hawks victory earned them a number one seed in this coming weekend’s Divisional tourney in Hamilton after they plowed through the 7B regular season unbeaten (10-0) in conference play and 17-3 overall on the year in an excellent coaching job by T Falls head coach Jake Mickelson. 

Butte and Hamilton will have hard acts to follow, big shoes to fill, steep hills to climb...all the superlatives apply. 

Congrats to all the teams who advance to the Divisional round from this area (see accompanying story) and good luck in the next round!