Eureka girls open divisional play versus Florence

District 7B tournament champion Eureka (11-9) will have the honors of opening the Western B girls divisional in Hamilton on Thursday with an 11:20 a.m. tipoff at Dale Berry Court.

The Lions will face No. 4 seed Florence from 6B.

Second-seed Bigfork (16-4) will close out the opening round with a 5:45 p.m. contest with No. 3 seed St. Ignatius.

Bigfork, ranked No. 3 in the Class B poll, fell to Eureka last Saturday 38-31 in the championship game.

Bigfork had beaten Eureka twice during the regular season.

Western B divisional boys play starts a day earlier with No. 1 7B seed Troy facing No. 4 6B seed Ronan at 6 p.m.

No. 3 seed Eureka and No. 2 seed Deer Lodge follow at 7:45 p.m.

Fourth-ranked Bigfork, the No. 2 7B seed, will play No. 3 seed Missoula Loyola at 2:45 p.m.

Troy won the 7B tournament title last Saturday with a thrilling-, last-second win over Bigfork, 38-36. Both teams are 16-4.

The boys semifinals are set for Thursday, 7:30 and 9:15 p.m. The championship game is Friday at 9:15 p.m.

The girls semifinals are 4 and 5:45 p.m. on Friday. The title game is Saturday at 8:45 p.m.

The top two teams, boys and girls advance to the Class B state tournaments. For boys, it's March 1-3 in Bozeman. The girls are back in Hamilton March 8-10.

Western B divisional

At Hamilton High School

Dale Berry Court

Boys

Wednesday

1 p.m. - Florence vs. Thompson Falls

2:45 p.m. - Missoula Loyola vs. Bigfork

6 p.m. - Troy vs. Ronan

7:45 p.m. - Eureka vs. Deer Lodge

Girls

Thursday

11:20 a.m. - Eureka vs. Florence

1 p.m. - Thompson Falls vs. Missoula Loyola

4 p.m. - Deer Lodge vs. Plains

5:45 p.m. - St. Ignatius vs. Bigfork