With only five teams in the conference, the Northwestern A divisional basketball tournament has a different look this year. But one thing hasn’t changed – the road to a divisional title goes through Columbia Falls.
Both the boys and girls from Columbia Falls won last year’s divisional tournament and are the top seeds in this year’s brackets. The girls are 12-6 overall and 7-1 in the conference. The boys are ranked second in the state behind Laurel. Their record is 16-2 overall and a perfect 8-0 in league games.
The tournament is again held at Glacier High School in Kalispell on Feb. 25-27. First-round games are scheduled at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Thursday evening. Second-round games begin at 2 p.m. on Friday. Loser-out games are held on Saturday morning and afternoon.
The girls championship game is scheduled for 6 p.m. Saturday night and the boys finale begins at 7:30 p.m. If necessary, challenge games will be held on Monday night. The top two teams advance to the state tournament.
Columbia Falls’ girls defeated Bigfork 55-53 in a thrilling overtime championship game of last year’s divisional tournament before losing out in consecutive games at state. The Wildkats lost to Hamilton 51-48 and Glendive 53-40 in the state tourney.
The boys had a bit of an easier path to the divisional title, cruising past Polson 64-45 in the championship game. At state, they defeated Corvallis 61-44 in the first round and Browning 64-55 in the second. In the title game, they lost 54-50 to Dillon, narrowly missing out on their fourth state championship since 2003.
This year’s divisional tournament structure is different than in past years because Bigfork dropped back to Class B, leaving Northwestern A with five teams instead of six. Now there is only one first-round game on Thursday, played between the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds.
Under the new bracket format, the top three seeds get first-round byes. Last year, only the top two seeds got byes. The fourth and fifth seeds played each other, while the third and sixth seeds battled in the first round. The top two seeds awaited the winners.
This year, the No. 2 and No. 3 teams get first-round byes and face each other in a second-round game on Friday. The No. 1 seed awaits the winner of the first-round matchup between the No. 4 and No. 5 teams.
In girls, No. 4 Ronan takes on No. 5 Whitefish at 6 p.m. on Thursday. The teams finished the regular season with identical records: 1-17 overall and 1-7 in conference. The winner advances to play No. 1 Columbia Falls, which has a first-round bye, at 2 p.m. on Friday.
Libby, the second seed, plays No. 3 Polson on Friday at 4 p.m. Libby was the only team in Northwestern A to defeat Columbia Falls during the regular season, beating the Wildkats 51-44 on Feb. 16. Senior Jackie Mee scored 29 points in the victory. Libby is 13-5 (6-2) and Polson is 13-5 (5-3).
The scenario in the boys’ bracket is similar, with No. 4 Whitefish and No. 5 Ronan taking identical records into the tournament. Both teams are 6-12 (2-6). They play each other at 8 p.m. on Thursday and the winner advances to play No. 1 Columbia Falls at 6 p.m. on Friday.
At 8 p.m. on Friday, No. 2 Polson squares off against No. 3 Libby. Polson finished the regular season with a 10-8 record overall and was 5-3 in conference games. Libby is 8-10 (3-5).
Five players to watch from girls and boys:
Girls
-Jackie Mee, Sr., Libby – The leading scorer in the conference at 19.5 points per game. She also averages nearly 10 rebounds, third best behind Columbia Falls’ DeWit sisters.
-Kelsey DeWit, Sr., Columbia Falls – Averages almost 13 rebounds and three blocks, both tops in the league. Her scoring average (14.3) is third best.
-Kayla Dewit, Jr., Columbia Falls – The younger sister of Kelsey, this DeWit averages more than 19 points and 11 rebounds per game.
-Breanne Kelley, Jr., Polson – Averages 11.8 points and nearly three steals, best in the league.
-Nicole Davey, Sr., Polson – A great athlete who is in top 10 in scoring and rebounding, averaging almost 10 points and nine rebounds a game.
Boys
-Kyle Bagnell, Jr., Polson – Leads the league in scoring at 17.5 points per game and three-pointers made.
-Tim Rausch, Sr., Polson – A physical player who averages more than 12 points, third best in the league. He’s also a strong rebounder.
-Connor Silliker, Sr., Whitefish – One of the best interior players in the league, averaging more than 12 points and eight rebounds per game, both top three in the conference.
-Kyle Howell, Sr., Columbia Falls – The leading scorer on a balanced team and a great three-point shooter.
-Mitchell Wassam, Sr., Columbia Falls – His scoring average is down from last year, but Wassam leads the conference in assists at more than four per game and is a consistent threat to score.