Turner, HLP looking to make noise at the 2026 9C tournament

It's finally tournament time on the Hi-Line. And for the Turner Tornadoes and Hays-Lodge Pole Thunderbirds, that means it's time to head to Havre for the annual District 9C boys and girls basketball tournaments.

The annual 9C Tournament will run today through Saturday at the Havre High gymnasium, and on the line are not only district championships, but trips to next week's Northern C in Great Falls.

On the girls side, the Turner girls captured the 9C regular season championship, and will be the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament. Turner, led by Bridget Reed, Abi Grabofsky, and a talented roster has a bye in the first round after going 13-4 overall in the regular season. Turner will play the winner of Big Sandy and Hays-Lodge Pole in the semifinals. HLP went 13-5 in the regular season and earned the No. 4 seed in the 9C. The T-Birds swept Big Sandy in the regular season, but it will be a tough battle in a game that tips off tonight at 5 p.m.

On the other side of the girls bracket is No. 2 seed North Star, which went 12-6 on the season. The Knights will play either Box Elder or Dodson in the semifinals. That game tips tonight at 8:30 p.m. and the winner will play in Friday night's second semifinal.

The 9C girls tournament will continue with loser-out games at 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, and the consolation game at 5:30 p.m. Saturday. The 9C girls championship game will take place at 8:30 p.m. Saturday night. The top three teams from the 9C will advance to next week's Northern C girls tourney in Great Falls.

The action in Havre starts with the boys tournament today. Hays-Lodge Pole earned the No. 4 seed with a 7-11 record this season and will take on fifth-seeded Dodson this afternoon in the first game of the tournament. The T-Birds have a potent offense and will hope to advance to the semifinals where they would face No. 1 seed Box Elder in the first semifinal Friday at 4 p.m.

On the bottom half of the bracket is third-seeded North Star battling sixth seed Turner this afternoon. It was a rough season for the Tornadoes, as they went 0-17 and will now look to play spoiler. The winner of that game will face No. 2 seed Big Sandy in the second boys semifinal Friday at 5:30 p.m.

The boys tournament will continue with loser-out games Saturday at 8 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. The boys consolation game will be held at 4 p.m. and the 9C boys championship game is set for 7 p.m. Saturday night. The top three boys teams from the 9C will advance to next week's Northern C in Great Falls.