Crosstown Week On The Hardwood

With the end of the Montana high school basketball regular season just two weeks away the Missoula schools will battle for the rights to be called the boys and girls city champions this week.

Hellgate @ Big Sky         2/12/19         Boys 5:30 pm                 Girls 7:15 pm
Hellgate will make a trip across town to take on Big Sky Tuesday night at the Eagles nest to kick off crosstown week. The boys will take to the court in the first game of the night with the Eagles coming off a sweep of the Kalispell schools last week to build a two game win streak. Hellgate is coming off a sweep of the Helena schools that proved to be a tighter run then expected going into last week. In the fist match up between these two teams back in December the Knights were able to ride by the Eagles 69-35, expect Tuesday’s game to be a tighter match as Big Sky has found a rhythm.

For the girls of Big Sky it has been a building year as the Lady Eagles are a young bunch of talent who have been able to compete with the western portion of Class AA. The Lady Knights have been playing inspiring basketball in the 2018-2019 season as they are sitting in the third place spot in the west, and seventh overall in Class AA girls basketball. When the two teams met on December 18th Hellgate came away with the win, but as of late Big Sky has come on strong and can challenge the Lady Knights.

Sentinel @ Hellgate         2/14/19        Girls 5:30 pm                Boys 7:15 pm
It’s ladies first on the hardwood for a crosstown doubleheader in a sweat heart match up on Valentines night with Hellgate hosting Sentinel. The Lady Knights have a chance to take the city title with a win over the Lady Spartans after Hellgate beat Sentinel on the Lady Spartans home turf in the first game. Sentinel has had an abnormal season compared to previous years as Sentinel sits two games back of Hellgate in conference and Class AA standings. It was a tight game in the first battle between the two teams last time Hellgate and Sentinel met with the Lady Knights sneaking by, Thursday nights game should be just as close of a game as the first.

Hellgate will attempt to pull off a clean sweep of the Spartans and claim the city title with a win over Sentinel on Thursday night. Outside of the loss to Hellgate the Spartans are right where they need to be going into the final weeks of the regular season as Sentinel is fifth overall and second in conference standings. In the first game it was a dominating 64-34 win for Hellgate back in mid January, but since then the Spartans have dropped into winning streak that has given them confidence going into Thursday night. You can throw out the out come of the last match up as the Spartans will come in looking to revenge their loss and block any way for the Knights to claim a city title.

Big Sky @ Sentinel          2/16/19           Girls 5:30 pm                Boys 7:15 pm
The final crosstown match of the week will take place Saturday as Sentinel will host Big Sky on the hardwood. The ladies will take to the court first on Saturday night with the Lady Spartans looking to sweep the Lady Eagles on the basketball court. Big Sky is looking for their first conference win of the season as they have been close in multiple games but have not been able to pull the trigger to get the win. Sentinel is looking to sneak up on Hellgate as they sit two games back from the Lady Knights and a win over Big Sky would create a mess for Western Class AA girls basketball. Look for the Lady Spartans to come out quick and try to seal the win early.

In the final game of crosstown play it will be the Eagle and Spartan boys who will go toe to toe to build a resume going into the final week of regular season play. Big Sky has been rising one game at a time to improve their style of play on the court and with a pair wins last week they could have the right momentum going into the divisional tournament. Sentinel has strengthened their resume after a slow start in December to put themselves in the driver seat going into the final weeks of regular season play. Sentinel dominated the first game with a 40 point win over Big Sky in the Eagles Nest, but Big Sky has found a system that puts their shooters in the right position.