MHSA approves change to Class A state hoops tourney

Class A will go back to an 8-team state tournament in basketball, the Montana High School Association announced Tuesday.

The move was approved by the MHSA Executive Board in a June 22 meeting.

The change is effective for the 2023-24 school year.

Four teams from the East and four from the West will qualify for the state tournament and there will no longer be a state play-in game for Class A.

Class AA will discontinue playing the 3rd and 4th place games at divisional basketball tournaments.

An adjustment to the mercy rule in baseball was also approved by the Board: The coach’s option to continue the game if the 15-run differential is reached after the third inning was removed. The 10-run differential after five innings still stands.

An adjustment to the Class AA football mercy rule was approved. The running clock will begin in the third quarter instead of the fourth quarter if the 35-point differential has been reached.

The board also approved adjustments to the Class A state football bracket. The same number of teams from each division will qualify for the playoffs and there will not be any divisional crossover in the first round. This comes as Bigfork moves up from the Class B ranks, giving the West a 14-10 advantage in number of schools versus the East.

A format change for the Class B state golf tournament was approved by the board. A shotgun start will be used for the practice round and first day of competition and tee times will be used for the second day.

State golf tournament sites will also be in a rotation (North, Southeast, West) beginning in the 2025-26 school year.