Just like the boys, most of the girls Eastern A teams have not been on the court for about 10 days. So tonight and tomorrow should be very interesting to see who's able to shake off the rust...and who's not.
Girls (Top two advance)
Here are tonight's 1st Round Girls matchups @ Metrapark:
#4 Sidney (13-6) v. #5 Hardin (5-14) - 2:00 PM
#3 Billings Central (14-5) v. #6 Laurel (2-17) - 6:00 PM
#1 Miles City (17-1...9-1 in the Eastern A) - Bye
#2 Glendive (15-2...9-1 in the Eastern A) - Bye
1. Who's the favorite?
Miles City. Your defending State Champions have shown they are still the team to beat for the Class A State crown. The Cowgirls not only went 9-1 in the Eastern A...but were 4-0 against Class AA (2 wins each v. West and Senior). The two wins over West are especially impressive as the Lady Bears are tied for 2nd in the Eastern AA at 8-2. But the Cowgirls most impressive perforamce came in a 110-26 destruction of Hardin a month ago at home. That is an insane amount of points to put up against anybody, much less a conference opponent.
Now to be fair, the Cowgirls had to win a coin flip over Glendive to get the #1 seed in the Eastern A Tourney as both teams finished conference play at 9-1. And Glendive was the only team to beat Miles City during the season (a 43-36 win at home). However, Miles City is the better team and should win this tournament.
2. Non-Conference Champ with best chance to win Divisional?
This has to be Glendive, even though they technically were Co-Champs of the Eastern A. Led by Kalli Stanhope, Glendive is the only team this year who was able to shut down the high-powered Cowgirls over four quarters and get a victory. These two teams are a level above the rest of the conference.
BUT....
If I had to choose someone else becides those two teams, I would say Central has the best chance to pull off the major upset. The Lady Rams have come a lot farther than anyone predicted they would at the beginning of the season. Under the guidance of 1st year head coach Kathje (pronouned like Kathy) Dalton, Central started the seaosn off 6-0 and finished with a very respectable 5-5 record in the Eastern A, good for the #3 seed after a coin flip win over Sidney.
If the young Rams (only 1 senior) put it all together behind Kylie Medicine Horse, Austin Hanser, and the Chilton twins (Brenna and Shae), they have the best shot at pulling the upset.
With that said...it would be one of the biggest shocks of the season if Glendive and Miles City didn't meet for the title.
3. Eastern A Divisonal Tourney Predictions:
Here is how I think the bracket will unfold over the next three days:
Thursday 1st Round Games: Sidney over Hardin...Central over Laurel
Friday Semifinals: Miles City over Sidney...Glendive over Central
Saturday Consolation: Central over Sidney
Saturday Championship: *Miles City over Glendive
*Central cannot challenge Glendive since they already played in the semis, so Miles City and Glendive will advance to State.
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2 comments:
Casey,
I'm a big fan of Q2 Sports but I'm wondering why there's a "Griz Central" but no "Cats Central". I went to Montana State and would love to see some extended coverage on the Cats.
Hey David! Glad you enjoy what we do.
To answer your question...our sister station in Missoula, KPAX, had the resources to start the Griz Central website before our sister station in Bozeman, KBZK, was even up and running.
However, since Griz Central has had a very popular response, our web masters and sports department in Bozeman is currently working on getting a Cats Central up and running, altough no time table has been set.
Hopefully soon though.
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