The Class C Girls State Basketball Tournament gets underway today, Wednesday, March 8 at the Metra Park First Interstate Arena in Billings, Montana and will conclude Saturday night with the State Championship game being played at 6:00 pm.

The field in this years tournament is as good as one could expect. The 25-1 Chinook Sugarbeeters are in the field as the North No. 2 and will take on the undefeated Saco/Whitewater/Hinsdale Mavericks in the fourth game of the tournament. Tip-off is set for 7:30 pm.

Chinook punched their ticket with a 48-37 challenge game win February 27 over the Fort Benton Longhorns. The Mavericks claimed the top spot from the East with a narrow 46-44 win over the Plentywood Wildcats in the Eastern C Championship last Saturday.

The two teams share one common opponent, the Roy/Winifred Outlaws. Chinook's only loss of the season came at the Northern C Divisional to the Outlaws 45-38. Saco/Whitewater defeated Roy/Winifred on December 10, 2022 43-37.

The winner advances to play Thursday night at 8:00 pm while the loser will face a loser out contest Thursday morning at 10:30. The opponent will be the winner/loser from the third game of the tournament between the No. 1 South 23-1 Roberts Rockets and the 22-3 No. 2 West Manhattan Christian Eagles. Roberts won the Southern C with a 64-54 win over Ekalaka in the Souther C Championship while the Eagles fell to Twin Bridges in the Western C title game.

The tournament will get underway at 3:00 pm with the first game pitting the 21-2 No. 1 West Twin Bridges Falcons taking on the 20-3 No 2 South Ekalaka (Carter County) Bulldogs. Game number two on the schedule will pit the 23-1 No. 1 North Roy/Winifred Outlaws against the 22-1 No. 2 East Plentywood Wildcats.

The defending Class C Champions are the Roy/Winifred Outlaws who defeated the Box Elder Bears 48-40 in the 2022 Championship.

Six of the eight teams in the field are back from a season ago with Chinook and Roberts being the two newcomers. Saco/Whitewater/Hinsdale defeated Twin Bridges 68-30 in the consolation final last March. Ekalaka and Plentywood each earned a win while Manhattan Christian went 0-2.

As they say anyone can beat anyone when it comes to the post season and that has certainly been the case with state tournament fields often including a few 'surprise' teams. This field is strong all the way through with all eight expected to be there by most pundits.

Nerves will always play a roll and experience certainly goes a long way. Often times teams will struggle early on as they adjust to the big stage but generally it's the offense that is affected most. Shots are long, passes are high and typically a team will settle into their game plan pretty quick.

Chinook possesses one on the stingiest defenses in the tournament and generally defense shows up right away. The 'Beeters are very active and frustrate teams early and often. The 'Beeters were also at the Class C State Volleyball tournament and familiar with the bright lights. Anything can happen so don't be surprised if the 'Beeters bring home some golden hardware!