AA South Regular Season Winding Down
By Darron Thomas
It’s hard to believe that the basketball season has already gotten to the point where a lot of us are filling in our district tourney brackets and yes our south state brackets and, for the brave at heart, the state tourney brackets. I have most of them filled out but there’s one critical tool that every prognosticator must have close by….a pencil with a good eraser!
The district tournaments in 4AA and 5AA get underway on February 3rd with Simpson hosting the 4AA tournament and Centreville the 5AA tourney. Over in 3AA there is no tournament and all six teams begin the second half of their 10 district game schedule this weekend which makes every match up critical down the stretch.
So in two weeks we’ll know if our bracket predictions are accurate or whether the eraser will get extra duty. Here are a few of my observations, for what they're worth……….
In boy’s district 4AA Brookhaven has essentially wrapped up the #1 position as they host Copiah tonight and barring any upset will finish at 7-1. The #2 slot should be interesting as Simpson sits at 4-2 with a big game at Columbia on Saturday before finishing with Copiah next week. Simpson has lost two straight district games and it’s critical they play well here on out if they want to avoid a quick exit at south state in Gallman. If Columbia wins their final two district games, with Simpson and Copiah, there will be a tiebreaker situation with Simpson and Columbia sitting at 5-3. My guess would be that tiebreaker would be point differential from their two games played. I have Brookhaven #1, Columbia #2, Simpson #3, Prentiss #4 and Copiah #5.
In district 5AA Bowling Green has a two game cushion with three games left… at Central Private tonight, Centreville at BG on Saturday and at ASC next week. With two wins over Oak Forest it would take a total collapse for Bowling Green to lose the #1 slot. The #2 position could go down to the wire as only two games separate Oak Forest, Central Private and Silliman, and all three teams play each other down the stretch. Centreville sits at a disappointing 2-5 but with the Tigers hosting the tournament anything could happen as the top four teams advance to south state… Here’s my prognostication entering the district tournament, Bowling Green #1, Oak Forest #2, Central Private #3, Silliman #4, Centreville #5 and ASC #6.
In 3AA all five teams have five games remaining in district play with Trinity enjoying a two game lead. Trinity has three of those games on the road but for the Saints to lose two of those would make some huge headlines, “ain’t gonna happen”. The battle for second in district 3AA is the most exciting with Chamberlain-Hunt, River Oaks, and Riverfield all sitting at 3-2. CHA is playing solid basketball and I think that will continue. South State……. Trinity #1, Chamberlain-Hunt #2, River Oaks #3, and Riverfield #4.
At south state the place not to be for any lower seeded teams is the top half of the bracket with Trinity and Brookhaven as probable #1 seeds. The bottom half could be fun with Bowling Green, Chamberlain-Hunt and Simpson possibilities. Keep a close eye on the 3rd place match up on February 14th as two teams look forward to state tournament seedings…always interesting!
District tournaments start on February 3rd and South State starts on February 9th in Gallman.
See ya somewhere………
It’s hard to believe that the basketball season has already gotten to the point where a lot of us are filling in our district tourney brackets and yes our south state brackets and, for the brave at heart, the state tourney brackets. I have most of them filled out but there’s one critical tool that every prognosticator must have close by….a pencil with a good eraser!
The district tournaments in 4AA and 5AA get underway on February 3rd with Simpson hosting the 4AA tournament and Centreville the 5AA tourney. Over in 3AA there is no tournament and all six teams begin the second half of their 10 district game schedule this weekend which makes every match up critical down the stretch.
So in two weeks we’ll know if our bracket predictions are accurate or whether the eraser will get extra duty. Here are a few of my observations, for what they're worth……….
In boy’s district 4AA Brookhaven has essentially wrapped up the #1 position as they host Copiah tonight and barring any upset will finish at 7-1. The #2 slot should be interesting as Simpson sits at 4-2 with a big game at Columbia on Saturday before finishing with Copiah next week. Simpson has lost two straight district games and it’s critical they play well here on out if they want to avoid a quick exit at south state in Gallman. If Columbia wins their final two district games, with Simpson and Copiah, there will be a tiebreaker situation with Simpson and Columbia sitting at 5-3. My guess would be that tiebreaker would be point differential from their two games played. I have Brookhaven #1, Columbia #2, Simpson #3, Prentiss #4 and Copiah #5.
In district 5AA Bowling Green has a two game cushion with three games left… at Central Private tonight, Centreville at BG on Saturday and at ASC next week. With two wins over Oak Forest it would take a total collapse for Bowling Green to lose the #1 slot. The #2 position could go down to the wire as only two games separate Oak Forest, Central Private and Silliman, and all three teams play each other down the stretch. Centreville sits at a disappointing 2-5 but with the Tigers hosting the tournament anything could happen as the top four teams advance to south state… Here’s my prognostication entering the district tournament, Bowling Green #1, Oak Forest #2, Central Private #3, Silliman #4, Centreville #5 and ASC #6.
In 3AA all five teams have five games remaining in district play with Trinity enjoying a two game lead. Trinity has three of those games on the road but for the Saints to lose two of those would make some huge headlines, “ain’t gonna happen”. The battle for second in district 3AA is the most exciting with Chamberlain-Hunt, River Oaks, and Riverfield all sitting at 3-2. CHA is playing solid basketball and I think that will continue. South State……. Trinity #1, Chamberlain-Hunt #2, River Oaks #3, and Riverfield #4.
At south state the place not to be for any lower seeded teams is the top half of the bracket with Trinity and Brookhaven as probable #1 seeds. The bottom half could be fun with Bowling Green, Chamberlain-Hunt and Simpson possibilities. Keep a close eye on the 3rd place match up on February 14th as two teams look forward to state tournament seedings…always interesting!
District tournaments start on February 3rd and South State starts on February 9th in Gallman.
See ya somewhere………
