By Sonny Jones
The focus Friday night, as it should, will be on the final regular season games of the high school basketball season. There’s a lot on the line, especially for the West Bladen and East Bladen boys’ teams.
However, regardless of the results Friday night, the Southeastern Athletic Conference tournaments are scheduled to begin Monday with higher seeded teams hosting first round games. The boys’ and girls’ tournaments will move to Sampson Middle School in Clinton for the semifinals and championship games.
The West Bladen boys (17-6, 8-3 Southeastern Athletic Conference) can clinch a share of the regular season championship Friday with a win at Midway (12-9, 4-7 SAC). The Knights would share the title with the winner between East Bladen (16-5, 8-3 SAC) and St. Pauls (12-11, 8-3 SAC).
If West Bladen were to stumble against Midway and have its six-game winning streak snapped, then the East Bladen at St. Pauls winner will be the regular season champion and earn the conference’s top seed for the upcoming state playoffs.
In the girls’ standings, East Bladen (15-6, 7-4 SAC) can clinch third place outright with a win at St. Pauls (16-4, 10-1 SAC) or a loss by Red Springs (12-11, 6-5), which will host Fairmont (20-3, 10-1 SAC). East Bladen will be seeded No. 3 for the tournament because of a higher Ratings Percentage Index ranking than Red Springs irregardless of Friday’s results.
The West Bladen girls (8-12, 1-10 SAC) can tie Clinton (10-12, 2-10 SAC) for sixth place with a win at Midway (10-11, 3-8 SAC). If the Knights win, then the No. 6 and No. 7 seed for the conference tournament would come down to RPI. As of Thursday night, Clinton was ranked No. 30 in RPI and West Bladen No. 31.
So, as you can read, there’s a lot to be decided Friday night before tournament brackets are determined by Saturday. It has made for an interesting regular season race.
Here’s the schedule:
BOYS
First round – Monday, Feb. 13
• No. 1 (East Bladen, West Bladen or St. Pauls) bye
• No. 7 (Clinton) at No. 2 (East Bladen, West Bladen, St. Pauls or Red Springs)
• No. 6 (Fairmont or Midway) at No. 3 (East Bladen, West Bladen, St. Pauls or Red Springs)
• No. 5 (Fairmont or Midway) at No. 4 (East Bladen, West Bladen, St. Pauls or Red Springs)
Semifinals – Thursday, Feb. 16
at Sampson Middle School, Clinton
Games at 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Championship – Friday, Feb. 17
at Sampson Middle School, Clinton
Semifinal winners at 7:30 p.m.
GIRLS
First round – Monday, Feb. 13
• No. 1 (Fairmont or St. Pauls) bye
• No. 7 (West Bladen or Clinton) at No. 2 (Fairmont or St. Pauls)
• No. 6 (West Bladen or Clinton) at No. 3 (East Bladen)
• No. 5 (Midway) at No. 4 (Red Springs)
Semifinals – Wednesday, Feb. 15
at Sampson Middle School, Clinton
Games at 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Championship – Friday, Feb. 17
at Sampson Middle School, Clinton
Semifinal winners at 6 p.m.
TODAY IN SPORTS HISTORY
• 1952 — The Baltimore Bullets play the 48-minute game without making a single substitution and beat the Fort Wayne Pistons 82-77.
POTATO PICKS TO WATCH TODAY
• PGA CHAMPIONS: Trophy Hassan II, 8 a.m., GOLF
• PGA: Phoenix Open, 3:30 p.m., GOLF
• WRESTLING: Duke at Virginia, 7 p.m., ACCN
• NHL: Seattle at N.Y. Rangers, 7 p.m., NHLN
• NBA: Charlotte at Boston, 7:45 p.m., ESPN
• NBA: Cleveland at New Orleans, 10:05 p.m., ESPN
Sonny Jones can be reached at wibbyj@gmail.com.
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