Kalispell basketball makes history

For the first time, Kalispell will be represented by two teams at the Class AA boys state basketball tournament next week.

The Flathead Braves (12-8 overall) and Glacier Wolfpack (14-7) both earned spots in the eight-team bracket after winning playoff games at home on Thursday to advance to Billings for the March 11-13 state tournament.

Flathead enters as the third seed from the West and will face defending state champion Great Falls C.M. Russell (18-3), the second-seed from the East, in opener next Thursday at noon at the MetraPark.

Fourth-seeded Glacier squares off with a familiar Kalispell opponent from recent history, top-seeded Billings West (18-2), that same day at 8 p.m.

Before Glacier opened in the 2007-2008 school year, Flathead faced off with West at the state tourney two years in a row.

In 2006 in Butte, the fourth-seeded Braves stunned top-seeded Billings West in the opening round with a 3-pointer at the buzzer by Beau Watkins, giving the Braves a 46-45 victory. Flathead went on to finish fourth after losing to Butte 55-46 in the consolation final.

The following year in Billings, both Flathead and West met again in the same roles as the previous year, only this time the Bears were on guard. West stuck it out and defeated Flathead 57-48 and went on to win the title. Flathead eventually lost to Missoula Big Sky 47-44 in the consolation semifinals.

Last year the Braves struggled through a 3-18 season before turning it back around. Flathead is riding into the state tournament for the first time since 2007. With a three-game win streak intact, five seniors and three players scoring in double digits, the Braves are hoping to return to the state championship game for the first time since 2003. The Braves lost that year to Butte and the program’s last state title came in 1989.

Flathead faced this year’s first-round foe once already this season. The Braves lost handily in Great Falls 76-29 on Jan. 2.

Glacier is making strides to catch up with its storied competitors and has advanced to state in two of its first three years as a program. After going 3-18 in 2008, the Wolfpack finished 15-6 last year and faced Bozeman in the opening round of the tournament in Butte. Glacier fell to the Hawks 80-58 and lost out the following day to Missoula Sentinel.

Glacier and West have yet to play, but the Bears’ history speaks for itself. In the past five seasons, West has won two titles (2007, 2008) and played in the championship finale four times. Last year, the Bears narrowly lost to C.M.R. in the final game, 57-51.

Class AA State Tournament

at the MetraPark in Billings

BOYS

Thursday, March 11

No. 2 East Great Falls C.M. Russell (18-3) vs. No. 3 West Flathead (12-8), Noon

No. 1 West Missoula Sentinel (13-7) vs. No. 4 East Billings Skyview (13-7), 1:30 p.m.

No. 2 West Helena Capital (12-8) vs. No. 3 Billings Senior (16-4), 6:30 p.m.

No. 1 East Billings West (18-2) vs. No. 4 West Glacier (14-7), 8 p.m.

Friday

Winner of C.M. Russell/Flathead vs. winner of Sentinel/Skyview, 6:30 p.m.

Winner of Capital/Senior vs. winner of West/Glacier, 8 p.m.

Saturday

State championship, 8:30 p.m.

GIRLS

Thursday

No. 2 East C.M. Russell (18-3) vs. No. 3 West Helena (14-7), 9 a.m.

No. 1 West Helena Capital (13-8) vs. No. 4 East Billings West (9-12), 10:30 a.m.

No. 2 West Missoula Sentinel (18-3) vs. No. 3 East Butte (17-4), 3:30 p.m.

No. 1 East Bozeman (18-2) vs. No. 4 West Missoula Big Sky (14-7), 5 p.m.

Friday

Winner of C.M. Russell/Helena vs. winner of Capital/West, 3:30 p.m.

Winner of Sentinel/Butte vs. winner of Bozeman/Big Sky, 5 p.m.

Saturday

State championship, 6:30 p.m.