BUTTE — The State C boys state tournament kicked off on Thursday at the Butte Civic Center with the quarterfinal round.
The first three games saw the No. 1 seeds dominate as the Northern C champion Box Elder, Eastern C champ Scobey and Western C winner Manhattan Christian rolled into the semifinals with double digit wins.
The final quarterfinal was the lone game to see a No. 2 seed advance as Fort Benton used a second-half surge to topple Southern C champion Bridger.
Defending state champion Box Elder will now face Scobey in the first semifinal on Friday followed by the second semi between Manhattan Christian and Fort Benton.
Here's a glimpse at all four quarterfinals:
Box Elder 91, Terry 37
Three Box Elder players scored 20-plus points as the undefeated Bears quickly overwhelmed the Terriers en route to a runaway win.
Box Elder, chasing consecutive Class C crowns, led 25-12 by the end of the first quarter and expanded its lead to 47-22 by halftime before outscoring Terry 31-7 in the third frame to start a running clock.
The Bears were led by a game-high 28-point from Tracen Jilot, 21 from Tuarie Stiffarm-Rosette and 20 from Dreyden Anderson. Box Elder converted 37-of-79 of its field goals.
Terry, the No. 2 seed out of the Eastern C, was led by 6 points apiece from Milo Sackman and Eathan Meldinger.
Scobey 70, Seeley-Swan 24
Cooper Axtman led all scorers with 16 point and John Carney added 15 as the Spartans built a 29-5 lead by the end of the first quarter to setup a semifinal against Box Elder.
The Spartans led 49-14 by halftime as they converted 29 of their 50 shots from the field while holding the Blackhawks to 22.7 percent.
Kolton Machart added 9 points for Scobey and Axtman led the game with 7 rebounds.
Seeley-Swan was led by 8 points from Jay Garland.
Manhattan Christian 67, Lustre Christian 52
Christian Triemstra piled up 26 points and Andrew Kimm notched a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds as the Eagles fended off the Lions to put themselves a game away from returning to the Class C championship.
The Eagles led 35-22 at halftime and watched the Lions eventually make it an 8-point game in the fourth quarter before pulling away for good.
Johnslee Pierre paced Lustre Christian with 17 points, Byron Erwing had 11 and Cam Reddig had 10.
Fort Benton 65, Bridger 43
Kelton Vielleux piled up a game-high 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for a double-double, Isaiah Smith scored 15 and Eli Arganbright added 11 as the Longhorns outscored the Scouts by 20 in the second half to score the only quarterfinal upset.
Bridger led 16-14 after one quarter before Fort Benton took a 28-26 lead into halftime.
The Scouts were led by 18 points from Cade Stringari and 14 from Gage Goltz.
