Big Sky’s girls’ and boys’ varsity teams brought home the bronze from the Montana High School State basketball tournament, which took place in early March at Billings’ MetraPark arena.
The king of the consolation bracket was the Big Sky Eagles for both boys and girls. The boys took third after a long season of basketball and they were seeded fourth out of the West.
The annual state basketball tournament housed AA class high school basketball teams from across the state, including boys and girls. The teams competed in a bracket style format, and the games themselves were played over the course of three days. Teams advanced through quarterfinal, semifinal, and final rounds all based on winning, and consolation games were scheduled for teams who did not advance through the winners bracket.
When Big Sky senior Cole Silberstein was asked how the Eagles continued to push through the bracket after a 5-point loss against Billings West, he responded, “our resilience when we lost games is ultimately what got us through the threshold.”
The Big Sky girls also finished strong with a third place win over Hellgate. Big Sky was seeded first out of the West, and then lost to Billings West, number two out of the East, in the semis. This ultimately led to their win over the consolation bracket.
When Big Sky player Mya Hubbard was asked what she felt was the biggest factor that contributed to this third place win, she said, “our team dynamic and chemistry was really good this year, and I feel like that is what pushed us throughout the tournament.
When she was asked how she felt specifically after the win, Hubbard stated, “I was really happy and excited to get third, but I know we all were wishing we could have been in the championship game.”
Jack Young, Big Sky Eagles athletic director, helped the Big Sky Eagles throughout the season by planning games, helping with funding for the team and making executive decisions for them.
When Young was asked how he felt after both the boys and girls won the consolation bracket, he replied with, “I was incredibly proud of both the Big Sky boys and girls basketball teams this season. The boys experienced an up-and-down regular season, finishing in sixth place, but entered the playoffs with a huge road win at Butte.”
He continued.
“At the state tournament, they faced the number one seed from the East in their opening game and battled hard, ultimately coming up short. From there, it was a long and challenging road, as the Eagles fought their way back through the bracket, defeating Gallatin, Helena High, and crosstown rival Hellgate in the third-place game.”
Young said overall he was incredibly proud to see both teams bring back third place trophies.
The state basketball event brought together student-athletes, coaches, school staff, and spectators in a centralized location. Teams traveled from various parts of the state and remained in Billings for the duration of the tournament. The schedule was organized to allow multiple games to take place each day within the arena, with designated time slots for each matchup.
For the boys, the tournament concluded with the championship game, where the remaining two teams, the Sentinel Spartans and Billings West Golden Bears, competed for the Class AA state title, ending with Sentinel winning by 1 point. Final standings were determined based on the results of both championship and consolation games.
For the girls, the tournament concluded with Gallatin, the first seed from the East, beating Billings West in the championship game.
The state tournament dates all the way back to 1911, when the very first state championship game was played. Four classifications then would evolve 22 years later known as AA, A, B, C. The girls had their first state championship game in 1972.
