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It's that time, it's HIT time

Whether it was in the famed old gym at Malta High School, or now in the Armory Gymnasium, the Hi-Line Invitational basketball tournament, or HIT as it's affectionately called, means a lot to a lot of people.

And, starting Thursday afternoon, the HIT will once again take center stage in Havre as high school basketball players converge on Montana State University-Northern's Armory Gymnasium for three days of all-star games. The annual all-star extravaganza starts at 4 p.m. Thursday and will run through Saturday's girls championship game at 3:30 p.m. and boys championship game at 5 p.m.

Once again, the HIT will feature wall-to-wall basketball action with some of the top high school boys and girls, both from around the Treasure State, as well as the Hi-Line itself.

The schedule includes four games of pool play Thursday, and another six games Friday. Friday will also feature the co-ed 3-point contest at 6 p.m. The action then picks up again Saturday with the last two pool play games in the morning, followed by the girls consolation game at noon, and the boys consolation game at 1:13 p.m. The annual slam-dunk contest will take place at 3 p.m. followed by the two championship games.

The tournament is again put on by longtime Malta businessman Babes Bishop, as well as Montana State University-Northern head coaches Shawn Huse and Chris Mouat. And both coaches are excited for the level of talent coming to Havre to play this weekend.

The boys tourney will feature four Havre Blue Ponies on the Class A squad, including Dane Warp, Nate Rismon, Michael Bakke and Jase Kato. Rocky Boy's Cecil LaFromboise will play on the Class B squad, while Box Elder standouts Clayton Morsette Jr., and Brandon The Boy will be joined by Chinook's Lane Seymour on what figures to be a loaded Class C team that also includes All-Staters Luke Davison of Highwood, Kolten Haugrose and Parker McCafferty of Belt and 6-10 powerhouse Seth Christiaens of Broadview-Lavina. The rest of the Class C team is composed of Fairview's Monte Cayko, Westby's Cooper Olson and Manhatten's Conner VanDyken.

The Class A team will also be a force in the tournament, with the likes of Great Falls High standouts Lucas Vining and Matt Wyman joining Bozeman's Adam Huse and Jesse Meade, Hellgate's Devin Brey, Rhett Baerlocher and Mark Lebsock, along with Zachheus Darko-Kelly of Sentinel and Regan Shein of Helena High.

Joining the Blue Ponies on the Class A team will be Zac Allen and Tyler Thompson of state champion Laurel, as well as Jacob Hadley and Dillon Meyer of Billings Central, Morgan Ray of Lewistown and Bridger Truitt of Frenchtown. The Class B team is made up of Chase Fossum and Jason Thibault of Glasgow, Shane Larson of Conrad, Tyler White of Shelby, Brent Finn of Big Timber, Kevin Swanson of Loyola and Tanner Osborne of Columbus.

The girls tournament will be every bit as exciting and feature plenty of talented players, including three Blue Ponies in Morgan Mazurkiewicz, Dani Wagner and Naomi Terry. They'll play on a Class A team that includes Hardin star Darrelyn LeftHand.

Chinook's Katelyn Neibauer will be a part of a talented Class C team that also includes star Hannah Dean from Gardiner, as well as Krista and Kylie Schott of Broadview-Lavina, Angie Murnion of Winnett-Grass Range, Laramie Scheffelmeir of Saco, Emily Bergum of Roy-Winifred, Paige Holmes of Seely-Swan, and Britt Cooper of Harrison-Willow Creek.

The Class AA team didn't have its roster finalized of yet, but Gabby Fought and LynDee Fesithamel of GFH and Mady Skawinski of CMR are committed to play. The Class B team could be the one to beat this weekend on the girls side as Fairfield stars Lizzy and Nat Klinker are on the roster, as is Brina Hull of Colstrip, Janie McRae of Shepherd, Voctoria Obergfell of Pentywood and Hailey Nicholson of state champion Malta.

In addition to a championship team and consolation-winning team being crowned, all-star teams, boys and girls MVPs, scoring leaders, assist leaders, rebounding leaders, steal leaders, Mr. and Miss Hustle, Mr. and Miss Defense, boys and girls 3-point shootout champions, and a boys slam-dunk champion, will be crowned.

Once again, the HIT, which is the longest-running high school all-star tournament in Montana, will tip off at 4 p.m. Thursday and run through Saturday's boys championship game, with all the action taking place at the Armory Gymnasium in Havre.

FRIDAY

12:00 PM Class C Girls vs. Class A Girls

1:30 PM Class C Boys vs. Class A Boys

3:00 PM Class B Girls vs. Class AA Girls

4:30 PM Class B Boys vs. Class AA Boys

6:00 PM 3-Point Contest

7:00 PM Class B Girls vs. Class A Girls

SATURDAY

9:00 AM Class C Girls vs. Class AA Girls

10:30 AM Class C Boys vs. Class AA Boys

12:00 PM Consolation Girls Game

1:30 PM Consolation Boys Game

3:00 PM Slam Dunk Contest

3:30 PM Girls Championship Game

5:00 PM Boys Championship Game

 

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