Flathead High School to host 2013 Western B tournament

Flathead High School will host next season’s Western B Divisional basketball tournament, school officials have announced.

“Hopefully we can make this into a long term effort for the city,” Flathead High School athletic director Bryce Wilson said.

Kalispell will serve as the northern site in an alternating southern and northern rotation. Wilson said the Chamber of Commerce estimates the tournament will bring about $200,000 into the local economy.

“The Chamber of Commerce really went after it,” Wilson said.

The four-day, eight-team tournament pits the top four teams from District 7B, the northwestern Montana conference featuring Bigfork, Eureka and Troy, against District 6B, a mostly Missoula-area conference. Last season, all southern teams advanced to the state tournament from the Western B. Deer Lodge won the boys tournament over Florence-Carlton and Loyola won the girls tournament against Deer Lodge.

The Kalispell crosstown game, which falls on the same weekend, will be played at Glacier next season to accomodate the tournament. Wilson said the option is open to move the Western B tournament to Glacier if Flathead is hosting the season-ending game in the future.