Manhattan Christian Lady Eagles punch their ticket to state as they win a overtime instant classic over Lady Rebels.

29-7 third quarter comeback gets the Eagles back in the game and Bella Triemstra sunk two free throws with seven seconds left to send the game into overtime.

Manhattan Christian Lady Eagles seniors, Madelyn Skillman, Sam Veltkamp, Bella Triemstra, and Isabelle Dawe hold the Western C Divisional 2nd Place Trophy they won Monday night over Shields Valley Lady Rebels, and with it an invite to play in the MHSA Class C State Tournament. Photo courtesy Libby Triemstra.

Oh My! On Monday night two deserving teams, the Shields Valley Lady Rebels and Manhattan Christian Lady Eagles played a basketball game for the right to advance to the MHSA Class C Girls State Tournament—a Challenge Game.

It was an instant classic, an overtime thriller that in the end left both teams exhausted, and Mahanntan Christian advancing to the state tournament in Butte from March 12-15th.

MHSA rules state that:

In the four Class C divisional tournaments, if the third place team has not met the second place team in divisional tournament play, then a challenge game must be held to determine second place and also the two teams that advance to the state tournament.

The Rebels were defeated in the championship of the Western C Girls Basketball Tournament by West Yellowstone (44-30) and the Eagles won two games on Saturday against White Sulphur Springs (49-39) and Charlo (67-30). Neither team had played each other so a Challenge Game was held on Monday at Park High in Livingston.

The gym at Park High was filled, by my estimate with 400 fans for both schools. It looked as if all the students of Shields Valley showed up to cheer the Rebels on and from what I could tell the same amount of students showed up from Manhattan Christian.

Me - I felt as if I had contracted some strain of yet-to-be-discovered flu so I watched from home.