By Sonny Jones
Will there be a Southeastern Athletic Conference boys’ basketball champion determined Friday night or will the league’s postseason tournament decide which team earns the top spot for the N.C. High School Athletic Association’s 2-A playoffs?
The red-hot West Bladen Knights will provide the answer.
West Bladen, East Bladen and St. Pauls are tied atop the SAC with 8-3 records and one game remaining. Friday’s schedule has West Bladen at Midway and East Bladen at St. Pauls.
If West Bladen beats the Raiders, then the Knights will be tied with the winner between East Bladen and St. Pauls for the regular season championship.
However, if West Bladen loses at Midway, then the winner between East Bladen and St. Pauls will be the SAC regular season champion and earn a top 10 seed for the state playoffs.
The Knights have won six straight and began their streak Jan. 20 with a 54-38 win at The Castle over Midway. West Bladen will be favored against the Raiders and should win … but … this is sports and upsets happen. I don’t see it happening. This young Knights team has continued to improve as the season has gone along and you know the coaching staff is warning the players about not looking past Midway.
If, as expected, West Bladen wins Friday and shares the SAC regular season title with either East Bladen or St. Pauls, then the conference tournament becomes much more important. That’s because a tie, and the league’s top entry in the state playoffs, would be broken by the final Ratings Percentage Index ranking, which would include the conference tournament.
It’s going to be an interesting Friday night.
RPI RANKINGS
Following Tuesday’s results when West Bladen beat St. Pauls and East Bladen beat Red Springs, the Knights have the highest RPI among SAC teams at 0.572335 and is ranked No. 12. East Bladen is No. 13 at 0.567786. St. Pauls is No. 14 at 0.562260.
Among girls’ teams, East Bladen moved up a spot to No. 13 with its win against Red Springs on Tuesday. Fairmont is No. 3 and St. Pauls is No. 5. Fairmont and St. Pauls are tied for first with 10-1 conference records.
Of course, the numbers will change with each game result.
TODAY IN SPORTS HISTORY
• 2018 – XXIII Olympic Winter Games open in PyeongChang, South Korea
POTATO PICKS TO WATCH TODAY
• PGA CHAMPIONS: Trophy Hassan II, 8 a.m., GOLF
• PGA: Phoenix Open, 3:30 p.m., GOLF
• NHL: Colorado at Tampa Bay, 7 p.m., ESPN
• BASKETBALL: Gardner-Webb at Radford, 7 p.m., ESPNU
• NBA: Chicago at Brooklyn, 7:30 p.m., TNT
• WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: N.C. State at Wake Forest, 8 p.m., ACCN
• NFL: 12th annual NFL Honors, 9 p.m., NBC
• NBA: Milwaukee at L.A. Lakers, 10 p.m., TNT
Sonny Jones can be reached at wibbyj@gmail.com.
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