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Northern C title, state volleyball berths on the line in Chinook

Sugarbeeters, Longhorns and Pioneers among teams vying for a divisional championship this weekend at the Chinook Gymnasium

It will be a short turnaround for the eight teams coming to the Northern C Divisional volleyball tournament. After wrapping up district play on Saturday night, the second step in the march towards a state championship is here.

Thursday-Saturday, the Chinook High Gymnasium will be the site of the 2022 Northern C, where a trio of Hi-Line teams will be in action, including the host Chinook Sugarbeeters.

After finishing second in the regular season, Chinook outlasted first-place Highwood twice to win last week's District 7C, and now will try to return to the state tournament for the first time in five years.

Chinook opens its quest to win the Northern C Thursday morning against Cascade. The Badgers finished fourth in last weekend's 6C tourney. On the same side of the bracket is a pair of big rivals for the Sugarbeeters, as Simms, the second-place team from the 6C, takes on Fort Benton, which finished third in the 7C last weekend. The Longhorns have been the Northern C champions two straight years, but they will be a bit of an underdog this weekend, though, led by the likes of Emerson Giese and Hailee Wang, the Longhorns will still be a contender.

On the other side of the bracket is the Big Sandy Pioneers, who finished fourth in the 7C. Led by Eva Yaedon and Eva Wagoner, the Pioneers have a had a great season, but they'll have a tough task ahead of them as they face 6C champion Belt Thursday afternoon. The winner of that match will meet 7C runner-up Highwood, or 6C third-place Great Falls Central. The match between the Mountaineers and Mustangs concludes Thursday's first round. The winners of the four first-round matches will meet in Thursday night's quarterfinals, which start at 6 p.m.

The tournament continues Friday morning with four loser-out matches, while the undefeated semifinal will take place at 7 p.m. The winner of that match advances to Saturday's championship match, which is scheduled for 4 p.m. Meanwhile, the fourth-place match is slated for 10 a.m. Saturday, with the third-place match to take place 30 minutes after the conclusion.

Of course, on the line in Chinook are two berths in next week's Class C state tournament in Bozeman. The Northern C gets underway Thursday morning.

 

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