The 8-Man North division playoffs start this week with three games ultimately determining the league's five seeds for the 8-Man state playoffs, which start the weekend of Nov. 1.
The North's No. 1 seed will be either Fort Benton or Great Falls Central after those two teams won their respective sub-conferences. The Longhorns, which defeated the Mustangs earlier this season, will travel to Great Falls for the de facto conference championship. The winner will secure the North's No. 1 seed for the state playoffs, while the loser will be the second seed.
Two other games this weekend -- Shelby at Belt and Choteau at Centerville -- will also feature into the seeding process. The winners of those two games will clinch playoff berths before meeting next week to determine final seeds. The winners of next week's game will be the No. 3 seed and the loser will be the fourth seed. The losers of this weekend's games will play next week to determine the North's fifth and final playoff spot.
The full 8-Man North matchups for this weekend are below. Dates and times for the games are to be determined.
1B Fort Benton at 1A Great Falls Central (Winner is North's No. 1 seed for state playoffs, loser is No. 2 seed)
*3B Shelby at 2A Belt
*3A Choteau at 2B Centerville
4B Simms at 4A Chester-Joplin-Inverness
Hays-Lodgepole at Cascade
Chinook at Rocky Boy
*Winners play next week to determine North's No. 3 and 4 seeds. Losers play to determine the North's No. 5 seed.
