And just like that, it’s over. No more games to wonder about and watch, no more scores to seek out and ponder, no more upcoming matchups to consider… it’s truly over for another year.

The 2026 Montana high school basketball season came to an abrupt end with the four state combined boys and girls tournaments across the Big Sky Country last week.

Although no local teams managed to make it to the season-ending tournaments played in various locales across the vast state of Montana, it’s worth the time to look at who won what and where.

In the combined Class C tournament played on Robin Selvig Court in Missoula, the Scobey Spartans claimed the State C boys championship by defeating Lustre Christian in the title tilt while the Denton-Geyser-Stanford-Geraldine Bearcats tripped up the Circle Wildcats for the girls State C crown.

Belt defeated Winnett-Grass Range in the State C boys consolation while Scobey topped Chester-Joplin-Iverness in the State C girls conso final.

In the State B tournament at Brick Breeden Fieldhouse in Bozeman, native American teams dominated the boys tourney this season with undefeated Lodge Grass, Harlem and St. Labre finishing one-two-three and Shepherd taking fourth.

Meanwhile in the girls tournament, Baker won its second straight girls State B title, defeating Malta in the championship, while Missoula Loyola avenged a loss in the Western B divisional title game by defeating Florence 61-47 in the State B consolation to claim third place.

At the State A tournament at Four Seasons Arena in Great Falls, Billings Central won the boys crown defeating Dillon in the chipper, and Frenchtown defeated Lockwood in the consolation game.

The Havre Blue Ponies defeated the Billings Central Rams for the State A girls title, while the Hardin Bulldogs defeated the Frenchtown Broncs in the consolation.

At Metra Park in Billings, Missoula Sentinel was the only team from western Montana to win a state championship, defeating Billings West in overtime in the Class AA boys championship, while Big Sky defeated Hellgate in the consolation, giving Missoula schools three of the top four placing spots.

In the girls State AA, Bozeman Gallatin defeated Billings West in the championship and Missoula Big Sky topped Hellgate in the consolation.

ISN’T IT IRONIC?

Now that this year’s Montana state champions have all been crowned and honored, a few random basketball thoughts of the local kind have crossed my mind that deserve a little more consideration.

For example, isn’t it ironic how the Thompson Falls boys basketball team defeated the Troy Trojans and the Deer Lodge Wardens in the last few weeks of the regular season, and then helplessly watched as the Trojans and Wardens finished third and fourth in the Western B divisional tournament?

Furthering that ironic moment, the Hawks had no actual say in their post season fate this year, as the long-running District 7B tournament was not held at all this season, leaving 7B as the only Class B district in the state of Montana not playing a conference tourney this season, a severe loss for players, fans, schools and communities in the conference area.

In my estimation, tournaments are, and should be, a big part of any team’s season in Montana high school basketball. It’s my feeling that the worse the team is, the more that team needs to see what success looks like, and that means getting these kind of teams into tournaments so they can experience it for themselves.

I don’t like play-in games either, all the teams in a league or conference need to be in a tournament some time during their athletic career, it’s kind of a rite of passage, something I think every high school kid bothering to put in all the work of playing in a sport should receive in the end. A reward for the season’s hard work and a memory to carry forward the rest of one’s life.

Isn’t it ironic that coach Matt Luedtke of Butte just last week quit coaching the Butte Bulldogs boys after seven successful years there for this very reason? Denied opportunities repeatedly to get his teams into tournaments at the Class AA level in spite of having some good teams he felt were deserving of post season play, Luedtke opted out of his contract in Butte for that very reason, saying all teams deserve the chance to play in a high school tournament.

Luedtke, who is originally from Ronan and owns a business in northern Montana, previously guided the Choteau boys to two consecutive State B basketball titles, complete with tournaments mind you, in the mid-twenty teens.

Isn’t it also ironic how differently a third place finish in a divisional tournament can affect a team? Let’s look at the St. Regis boys and the Thompson Falls girls for example.

The Tigers boys were severely disappointed with a third place finish at the Western C tourney in Butte, while the Lady Hawks were absolutely elated with their third place metal from the Western B tournament in Pablo.

Maybe the difference was in the expectations each team had going into tournament play.

Coach Jesse Allan’s powerful St. Regis Tigers ripped through regular season and District 14C tournament play without a loss, going into Butte with a 20-0 record and a berth in the State C tournament in Missoula on their minds.

The Tigers won a fifth straight District 14C regular season title and swept to the 14C tournament title in Polson, rising to as high as No. 3 in the Class C power poll before settling out at No. 6 by season’s end.

With the State C tournament being in Missoula, the Tigers had every reason to expect that they could make it there. Sadly, losses to Manhattan Christian and West Yellowstone, the two teams that did make it to Missoula from the Western C, denied the Tigers their ultimate goal.

Naturally, they were disappointed.

Coach Mike Tessier’s very good Thompson Falls Lady Hawks, on the other hand, entered tourney play with an 11-7 record and had been defeated several times by some of the very good teams in the Western B division this season.

In a division dominated by Missoula Loyola and Florence this year, the true goal of the other six teams involved was more to win third place than win the darn thing, and the Hawks succeeded on that score in spades, defeating 7B rival Mission in a heart-stopping consolation game, winning 47-44 in overtime, to claim their hard-earned prize.

The big win over the Bulldogs for the Hawks signified a happy ending in a couple of ways. It ended a string of losses to Mission, including two tight regular season defeats this season and the District 7B championship game in 2025, and it punctuated the coaching career of Tessier with an exclamation point.

Quite naturally, the Hawks were elated.

Personally, I think both teams should celebrate great seasons, but this is said as a fan of both.

In my mind, regardless of how they feel about themselves, both teams deserve an equal amount of credit for seasons well played. Even if the third place trophies they now have and will hold forever have different meanings for each team.

Both teams are now prized parts of my personal basketball reporting history, I do know that, and I thank them both equally.