Prep Weekly Spotlight 1/2

Our Prep Weekly Spotlight to start out the New Year takes a look at two schools who have proven their strength in Montana Class AA boy’s and girl’s basketball in the Helena Bengals and the Sentinel Spartans. Class AA conference basketball starts Saturday for the Spartans as they host the Bengals, while the girls will hit the road and take on the Class AA State Champion Lady Bengals.

The boys will get into action first as Sentinel will face Helena for the first time since March when the Spartans sent the Bengals home from the state tournament on the second day. Sentinel is coming off a December where they finished 4-3 after dropping their three final games, two of which were against Eastern Conference top teams in the Great Falls Bison and Bozeman Hawks.

Things will get underway in Helena 15 minutes later for the girls with a rematch between the top two teams in the Class AA girls basketball in the past two seasons. The Bengals and the Spartans have battled in the state title game the past two seasons with the Lady Bengals being named the state champions both times, the difference this season is the loss of senior leadership for Helena in Kamden Hilborn.

For the boy’s game it will be a 4:15 pm tip off time from Sentinel high school on Saturday in a game where the Spartans will start their run to the top of the Class AA boys basketball Western Conference against a competitive Bengals program.

On the girls side of things it will be a 4:30 pm tip off from Helena in a contest where an experienced Lady Bengals squad will try to show they are a top team in the state at the Class AA level against a well prepared Lady Spartans team.