FRENCHTOWN — High school basketball is officially here, and in western Montana it starts with the Western A Tip-Off in Frenchtown. It's an opportunity for teams to see the talent they'll face throughout the year and get a first look at their teams.
With winter sports back, boys and girls basketball teams across western Montana are seeing their first action of the season.
Frenchtown athletic director Eli Field said the Western A Tip-Off is an event teams look forward to attending and playing in.
“It's just an important event, just I think to get all those Western A teams together, get the coaches get together, they get to see each other, they get to see their teams,” Field said. "It's actually kind of fun to watch from the beginning season to the end who gets better, who grows the most, those kinds of things.”
Along with seeing how other teams will play throughout the year, players and coaches also get to see how their teams will play throughout the year.
Whitefish boys head coach Alex Gonzalez said he got to see how his new starters played during their first in-game action.
“I think it's a great opportunity for us to display our talent and our new team because we lost four to five guys last year,” Gonzalez said. “Knowing that we're playing teams that are not necessarily in our conference, but the same division or single A, and it's just a great opportunity for us to see what other parts of Montana has to offer.”
Along with all of the Class A Western teams there are also a handful of Class B teams in the tournament to offer a challenge for the teams at those schools.
Missoula Loyola girls basketball coach Aaron Ward said the tournament offers a unique challenge for his team to start the season.
“Class A is probably the toughest class in Montana,” Ward said. “So, just an opportunity to challenge yourself early, find out what you need to work on, and ultimately these are kind of divisional games that you're preparing for, so to see how your team reacts in pressure situations, it is always great to see.”
