George Ferguson Column: Racking up hoops hardware on the Hi-Line

The high school basketball postseason is only two weeks old. In other words, there’s still two weeks to go.

But whatever happens from here, just look at what area teams have accomplished.

Rewind one week, and it was a spectacular weekend of 9C basketball at the Havre High gymnasium. There, we got to see Box Elder/Hays-Lodge Pole part three, we got to see the sheer dominance of the Box Elder girls, and a great run by the North Star girls.

Not far down the road, on that same weekend, we saw the Rocky Boy Stars win the District 1B championship for the third time in school history. District titles might not compare to divisional or state championships, but in the case of the 1B, that’s just not true. Boys or girls, the 1B title is arguably the hardest district tournament to win in Montana, so the fact that the Stars did it is nothing short of amazing. And for good measure, the Rocky Boy girls finished third at the 1B, and the Harlem boys took fourth at the 2B that weekend.

And area teams were apparently just getting warmed up.

By now, everyone either saw or has heard about the epic showdown between HLP and Box Elder in the Northern C boys championship last Saturday night in Great Falls. It was a game for the ages, and it brought us back, not only to 2007 when HLP and Big Sandy waged an epic battle for the Northern C crown, but how about even farther back to when the KG Cougars and Chester Coyotes owned the old brown floor inside the famed Four Seasons Arena.

But as great as HLP/Box Elder part four was, it was only a part of how area teams simply owned the Northern C last weekend.

Last Thursday night, Box Elder came oh-so-close to knocking off the dynasty that is the Belt Huskies in the Northern C girls semifinals. It didn’t work out for the Bears, and Box Elder was ousted the next morning. But even that had to do with an area school because Fort Benton, another 9C squad, was the one to end the Bears’ season. The Longhorns made a great three-game run in Great Falls, earning the third-place trophy. And not to be forgotten, yes, it was a pretty darn good week for the Chinook boys in Great Falls. The young Sugarbeeters came within one game of playing Saturday night, while the North Star girls put up wins, too. Yes, there was no question the 9C was king last week in Great Falls.

All of that and the weekend was far from over.

In Billings, the Havre High girls stormed into the Eastern A championship game, and while the Blue Ponies couldn’t get over the hump against Hardin, they are still going to state, and they brought home more hardware.

Speaking of state, the Rocky Boy Morning Stars were oh-so-close to getting there themselves. They needed one basket Saturday night against Wolf Point in the Northern B consolation game to get there. That didn’t quite happen either, but a fourth-place finish in the Northern B is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of — not when that divisional tournaments includes Malta and Fairfield.

OK, so take a deep breath and let’s see where we are so far. At this juncture area schools have three district championships, a Northern C championship, a Northern C runner-up finish and a runner-up finish at the Eastern A. For a two-week stretch, it doesn’t get much better than that.

But, alas, we’re not done yet either. This week, the Havre girls search for hardware at the Class A state tournament in Butte, while the Rocky Boy boys go for the Northern B crown in Cut Bank.

Next week, it’s on to state for HLP and Box Elder. Will there be a part five to their saga? I wouldn’t bet against it. Just like I wouldn’t bet against Rocky Boy making some noise at the State B tournament either.

No, as great a run as area teams are having in basketball right now, it’s not even close to being done.