BUTTE — Unlike Classes A, B and C, there are no district or divisional tournaments in the Class AA basketball postseason, meaning that the potential paths to the state tournament are slim.
Finish in first or second place in the Western AA or Eastern AA standings, and you're automatically on to state. For the third- through sixth-place teams, a pair of play-in games are held — No. 3 hosts No. 6 and No. 4 hosts No. 5 — with the winner on to the state tournament and the loser's season over.
Unlike the old AA divisional tournaments — where losing in the first round still offered an avenue to state if a team then won two-straight games — the play-in format is a win-or-go home scenario.
For Butte High's boys and girls basketball teams, they're hoping to avoid the stress of their seasons coming down to single contests.
HEAR FROM THE BULLDOGS:
Both Bulldog teams are in the hunt for the No. 2 seed with just three games remaining in the regular season. The Butte boys (13-3 overall, 8-3 Western AA) are a game behind Missoula Hellgate (12-3, 9-2) for second place in the league standings, while the Bulldog girls (10-6, 8-3) are tied for second with Hellgate (11-4, 8-3).
There's a lot of different ways things could unfold in the final weeks of the regular season, but the bottom line is this: If the Bulldogs win out, they'll put themselves in good position to bypass the play-in games.
"There's a ton of different scenarios and you start looking at numbers and records and games left and you go crazy," said Butte head girls basketball coach Bryan Arnston. "I think it's really important to just focus on what we can control."
The Bulldog girls placed fourth at the state tournament last season, while the Butte boys fell to Missoula Sentinel in a home challenge game, missing the state tournament for the first time under now seventh-year head coach Matt Luedtke.
"Obviously if we're able to get to the 2 seed and punch the ticket, that's the way to do it," said Luedtke.
The Bulldogs will wrap up regular-season play against Hellgate, Sentinel and Big Sky.
