Results of basketball state tournament play

The longest season in Montana is not winter (normally), but basketball. Teams start practices in mid-November with an eye to competing in our own version of March Madness — the class championships that have played out in arenas across the state over the last two weeks.

The smaller schools have a much longer road to the State tournaments. There are over 100 Class C schools in Montana, with some combining to field enough players. In Class B, where Jefferson High competes, 40 schools ran the gauntlet through District and Division-level tournaments for just eight slots in the finals at Belgrade’s Special Events Center; those finalists survived both District and Division-level tournaments. Class A has 21 schools, and Class AA just 14.

Here’s how it all played out: