State B Preview - Boys

Hey everybody! I'm here with your State B Boys preview. Slim already showed us how the Class C is going to go down (or at least what he thinks will happen), so let's set up your Boys B Tourney kicking off today.

STATE B Boys @ Belgrade:

1:00 p.m. - Fairfield (16-7, North #1) v. Forsyth (16-8, East #2)
2:30 p.m. - Three Forks (20-3, South Central #1) v. Missoula Loyola (20-4, West #2)
7:00 p.m. - Seeley-Swan (20-3, West #1) v. Manhattan Christian (13-10, South Central #2)
8:30 p.m. - Columbus (20-3, East #1) v. Shelby (19-4, North #2)

Click here for the full bracket.

1. Who's the favorite?

The beauty about the state tournament is there is no clear-cut favorite. You have four #1 seeds, including four 20-win teams, and a 19-win Shelby squad.

However, I will pick Columbus as the favorite to win this tourney for several reasons.

1. The Cougars have great tournament experience, finishing third at state last year.
2. They are led by a great inside-out combo in Brandon Robbins (19 pts, 9 reb) and Sean Russell (17 pts...maybe the most dangerous shooter in the tournament)
3. They are playing their best basketball of the year, beating their 4B District opponents and Eastern B Divisional opponents by an average of 16 points per game.

2. Which non-division Champion is most likely to pull an upset?

Missoula Loyola. The only non-division Champion with 20 wins on the season, Loyola lost in the Western B Championship game to Seeley-Swan by 4 points, and then had to win a challenge game against Thompson Falls to get into State. (They beat Thompson 72-54.)

Loyola is 20-4 on the year and led by a great inside-out presence with point guard Adam Hollenback and forward Caleb DeGroot. If any of the #2 seeds are going to upset the division winners, it will by Loyola. They take on Three Forks, who is 20-3, but who also only beat 13-11 Manhattan Christian by 1 point in the Southern B Title game.

3. Which Division Champion is most likely to be upset?

Following up on the previous question, I have to say Three Forks because of their 1st round matchup. The Wolves are a solid squad, but have the toughest road of any of the top seeds in the tournament, having to take on Loyola in the 1st Round.

Jordan Overstreet and Jared Strickland lead Three Forks by averaging close to 30 combined points per game.

The other #1 seeds: Columbus, Fairfield, and Seeley-Swan, have much easier 1st round matchups, and I don't see any of them being upset. So by default, Three Forks is the choice here.

4. Predictions:

First Round: Fairfield over Forsyth, Missoula Loyola over Three Forks, Seeley-Swan over Manhattan Christian, Columbus over Shelby.

Friday Loser-Out Games: Three Forks over Forsyth, Shelby over Manhattan-Christian

Semi-Finals: Missoula Loyola over Fairfield, Columbus over Seeley-Swan

Saturday Loser-Out Games: Seeley-Swan over Three Forks, Fairfield over Shelby

Consolation: Fairfield over Seeley-Swan

Championship: Columbus over Missoula Loyola