State C Preview - Boys (Guest Blogger)

Hey everyone, Slim here. State is upon us! Here's the Class C Preview.

STATE C Boys @ Butte Civic Center:

11 a.m. - Rocky Boy (15-4, North #2) vs. Big Sandy (11-9, North #3), play-in
12:30 p.m. - Twin Bridges (21-2, West #1) vs. Wibaux (19-4, South #2)
2 p.m. - Winifred (22-0, North #1) vs. Fairview (19-4, East #2)
6:30 p.m. - Plenty Coups (21-1, South #1) vs. Shields Valley (18-4, West #2)
8 p.m. - Rocky Boy-Big Sandy winner vs. Scobey (23-5, East #1)

*This is a unique bracket since the Northern Division sends three teams. For a look at the bracket, click here.

1. Who’s the favorite?

Calling anybody a favorite in the state tournament is naïve. All of these teams deserve to be here, and any one of them can walk away the winner. You probably have to look at the one seeds to try to label a favorite, and, since Winifred is unbeaten, they are probably the choice. Winifred had their struggles in the divisional tournament with both Rocky Boy and Big Sandy, but, until somebody beats them, they have to be considered the favorite.

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

Wibaux and Rocky Boy. Two of Rocky Boy’s four losses came against Harlem, who fell three points short of qualifying for the State “B” tournament, and a third came at the hands of Winifred. Those are quality losses if such a thing exists. Wibaux is a potential upset team based on how they play. They’re guard oriented, are aggressive defensively, and attack offensively. If they get matched up with a bigger, slow-the-tempo team, they could pull the upset.

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

I’ll go with Twin Bridges here, based off of their match-up. I like Wibaux to pull the upset over the Falcons. Scobey is a candidate here, too, but, after playing the morning play-in game, I’m not sure Rocky Boy will have enough energy to knock off a one seed.

4. Predictions:

First Round: Rocky Boy over Big Sandy (play-in), Wibaux over Twin Bridges, Winifred over Fairview, Plenty Coups over Shields Valley, Scobey over Rocky Boy.

Friday Loser-Out Games: Twin Bridges over Big Sandy, Rocky Boy over Shields Valley, Fairview over Twin Bridges

Semi-Finals: Winifred over Wibaux, Plenty Coups over Scobey

Saturday Loser-Out Games: Rocky Boy over Wibaux, Scobey over Fairview

Consolation: Rocky Boy over Scobey

Championship: Winifred over Plenty Coups

*If the bracket goes this way, Saturday night at the Butte Civic Center will be incredible. The Rocky Boy-Scobey rematch is very intriguing, as both teams will have played a morning game this time around, and it will be Rocky Boy’s fifth game in three days. And the State Championship, wow! Plenty Coups was the consensus number one team all year long before stumbling in the district championship, after which Winifred assumed the top position. These two teams play really similar styles, except Winifred is a little more careful with the ball. The game creates incredible individual match-ups (Winifred’s Brian Foran against Plenty Coups’ Alton Smart Enemy and Winifred’s D.J. Dyer against Plenty Coups’ J.D. Blaine).