FRENCHTOWN — Manhattan Christian continued its run of Western C boys basketball dominance Saturday.
The Eagles won their sixth consecutive divisional championship, running past District 12C rival Harrison 63-38 in the title game at Frenchtown High School.
Manhattan Christian, which has won the past two Class C state championships, will play in its 10th consecutive state tournament. Prior to these six division titles, the Eagles placed second three consecutive years from 2016-18. They also won the Western C in 2015.
The 2024 Class C state tournament is March 6-9 at Great Falls.
On Saturday, Manhattan Christian came out firing, building a 21-6 lead in the first eight minutes. Harrison trimmed the deficit to 30-20 by halftime, but the Eagles regained momentum in the second half and pulled away for their second championship win over the Wildcats in as many weeks. Manhattan Christian also defeated Harrison in the District 12C championship last week.
Christian Triemstra scored a game-high 19 points and Mason Venema had 17 for the Eagles, while Kace Wagner and Andrew Bacon led the Wildcats with nine points each.
Harrison will be making the first state tournament appearance in program history. The Wildcats will be the West's No. 2 seed and cannot be challenged.
Earlier in the day, West Yellowstone won the third-place trophy with a 57-55 overtime win over St. Regis in the consolation final.
Ben Hales (23 points) and Cody Gould (18) combined for 41 points for the Wolverines and scored all seven of their team's overtime points.
St. Regis' Conner Lulis made seven 3-pointers on his way to 27 points in the loss.
District 12C teams Manhattan Christian, Harrison and West Yellowstone went a combined 6-0 against teams from District 13C and 14C during the divisional tournament. Their only losses were to each other — West Yellowstone to Harrison in the semifinal round and Harrison to Manhattan Christian in the championship.
Saturday loser-out scores
West Yellowstone 52, Drummond 51
St. Regis 45, Lincoln 40
