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While the madness of March might still be a little over a week away, basketball madness begins aplenty this week with the annual postseason carnival.
Whatever missteps there might have been up to this point can be wiped away with a healthy sectional run. No more questions. Just good old-fashioned, single-elimination, lose-and-turn-in-your-jersey action.
Usually, the strongest teams rank from 1 to 6, but that can be ignored because history reveals a team’s seeding is a statistically insignificant predictor in chances of winning. In this year’s tournament — both in the boy’s and girl’s bracket’s — there’s a strong cast of ambitious schools with plenty of all-out battles brewing. It’s going to be a demolition derby before a champion is crowned, and it all starts today.
Actually, to be exact, the 91st annual boys tournament, which features 115 teams, tips off tomorrow with a full slate of 20 games. And as for the girls … well, 17 of the 109 that entered the tourney have already been eliminated in last weekend’s opening rounds. The final game of both tournaments is the boys Class B2 bout at noon March 4, and when this champion is crowned, a grand total of 206 sectional games will have been contested in a 17-day span with 19 new sectional champions. It will have taken the girls 100 games to crown their nine sectional winners, and the boys 106 games to decide whom the 10 sectional champs are.
At this point in the tournament, there are too many sound squads remaining, so I will quickly touch on which local teams to keep an eye on:
In the girls Class B bracket, there’s no doubt No. 1-seeded Newark (17-1) is the focal point, and they take on No. 16-seeded Penn Yan Academy (5-14) at home Tuesday. On the lower half of the bracket, keep an eye on Pat Smyth’s seventh-seeded Palmyra-Macedon (11-7) team. The Red Raiders host Mynderse, a team they defeated in their last regular season game, 59-31. Midlakes (11) and Marcus Whitman (14) are also in this bracket. In Class CC, it’s once again Tony Morabito and his No. 1-seeded Gananda Blue Panthers (14-4) that are the favorite. They play eighth-seeded Le Roy (8-11) Wednesday. In Class CC, the top-seed are the Lions from Lyons, who boast a 16-2 record and take on No. 9-seeded Caledonia-Mumford (8-11) Wednesday. Also in this bracket are the seventh-seeded Black Knights from Marion (11-8), who won their sectional-opener over the weekend against Naples and play visitor to No. 2-seeded Perry (15-3) Wednesday. Joining only Penfield and Elba, H-AC carries a perfect 18-0 record and is the No. 1-seeded team in Class C. The Wolves host No. 9-seeded Bolivar-Richburg (7-12) Wednesday. Shouldering the No. 2 seed are the Indians from Red Jacket (15-3), and under first-year head coach Jeff Clark, these girls face seventh-seeded Wayland-Cohocton (7-12) Wednesday.
While the madness of March might still be a little over a week away, basketball madness begins aplenty this week with the annual postseason carnival.
Whatever missteps there might have been up to this point can be wiped away with a healthy sectional run. No more questions. Just good old-fashioned, single-elimination, lose-and-turn-in-your-jersey action.
Usually, the strongest teams rank from 1 to 6, but that can be ignored because history reveals a team’s seeding is a statistically insignificant predictor in chances of winning. In this year’s tournament — both in the boy’s and girl’s bracket’s — there’s a strong cast of ambitious schools with plenty of all-out battles brewing. It’s going to be a demolition derby before a champion is crowned, and it all starts today.
Actually, to be exact, the 91st annual boys tournament, which features 115 teams, tips off tomorrow with a full slate of 20 games. And as for the girls … well, 17 of the 109 that entered the tourney have already been eliminated in last weekend’s opening rounds. The final game of both tournaments is the boys Class B2 bout at noon March 4, and when this champion is crowned, a grand total of 206 sectional games will have been contested in a 17-day span with 19 new sectional champions. It will have taken the girls 100 games to crown their nine sectional winners, and the boys 106 games to decide whom the 10 sectional champs are.
At this point in the tournament, there are too many sound squads remaining, so I will quickly touch on which local teams to keep an eye on:
In the girls Class B bracket, there’s no doubt No. 1-seeded Newark (17-1) is the focal point, and they take on No. 16-seeded Penn Yan Academy (5-14) at home Tuesday. On the lower half of the bracket, keep an eye on Pat Smyth’s seventh-seeded Palmyra-Macedon (11-7) team. The Red Raiders host Mynderse, a team they defeated in their last regular season game, 59-31. Midlakes (11) and Marcus Whitman (14) are also in this bracket. In Class CC, it’s once again Tony Morabito and his No. 1-seeded Gananda Blue Panthers (14-4) that are the favorite. They play eighth-seeded Le Roy (8-11) Wednesday. In Class CC, the top-seed are the Lions from Lyons, who boast a 16-2 record and take on No. 9-seeded Caledonia-Mumford (8-11) Wednesday. Also in this bracket are the seventh-seeded Black Knights from Marion (11-8), who won their sectional-opener over the weekend against Naples and play visitor to No. 2-seeded Perry (15-3) Wednesday. Joining only Penfield and Elba, H-AC carries a perfect 18-0 record and is the No. 1-seeded team in Class C. The Wolves host No. 9-seeded Bolivar-Richburg (7-12) Wednesday. Shouldering the No. 2 seed are the Indians from Red Jacket (15-3), and under first-year head coach Jeff Clark, these girls face seventh-seeded Wayland-Cohocton (7-12) Wednesday.
Tomorrow, it all begins for the boys. However, for No. 5 Canandaigua (7-11) and No. 6 Victor (6-12), their Class AA2 games don’t take place until Friday. The Braves take on McQuaid, and the Blue Devils square off against Spencerport. In the nine-team Class B1 bracket, third-seeded Palmyra-Macedon (11-7) will host No. 6-seeded Midlakes (7-11) this Saturday. In Class B2, No. 10-seeded Marcus Whitman (1-17) will play seventh-seeded Attica (8-10) Wednesday. On Friday night, No. 5-seeded Gananda (8-10) plays fourth-seeded Avon (10-8) in the Class C1 tournament. In the 12-team Class C2 bracket, Lyons (17-1) is the top-seeded squad and they await the winner of Tuesday night’s contest between Pavilion and Oakfield-Alabama. Also playing Tuesday night from this classification is No. 10-seeded Naples (6-12) against No. 7-seeded Campbell-Savona (10-8), and the winner of No. 6-seeded Caledonia-Mumford (9-9) and No. 11-seeded Marion (4-14) take on third-seeded Bloomfield (16-2) Friday. In Class C3, eighth-seeded Red Jacket (6-12) will play No. 9-seeded H-AC (5-13) Tuesday night.
By this time next week, the number of girls’ teams will be whittled down to 40 with all teams in the semifinals. And for the boys, only 28 will remain with most awaiting their semifinal and final games.
