AZSPORTSNETWORK

Hello 2A sports fans!!

I wanted to give a huge shout to all of the cheerleading competitors at the state championship this last weekend which we covered. It was totally awesome and I will be having an editorial article tomorrow on the event.

The countdown begins as we enter into the top 24 teams in basketball who will make the playoffs or not.

A few years back as an AD I had brought a plan up in our conference that basically included allowing all teams into the playoffs, including football as well. At that point it was turned down and I was not allowed to have coaches see this format. However, last season this same format was brought to a vote and some felt it was to many teams. In the end they voted to include 24 teams and get rid of regionals.

Now the reason I still do not like this format is because of the new regional scheduling. If not for the regional scheduling I think we would have gotten close to having this as near as perfect as possible without including all teams. The regional scheduling has been horrible and made the conferences worth nothing as well as making some regions loaded with easier teams where some teams will benefit by getting in and other stronger team losing out by being in a tougher area for the regional scheduling.

I want to say once more how I am still asking Valley Christian and Phoenix Christian GBB teams to cancel the game this Friday!! Unless this is a close game this is the sort of game that is needed for our 2A playoffs which at times has been about a few teams. Having the teams undefeated and opposite sides of the bracket would have been awesome. But if VC wins and it is not close the playoffs for me will not be as exciting.

Now this gets me back to my next complaint for the 2A people as well as others. Put in a committee to seed these teams after the season is over so we do not have a fiasco like in football. IF....PC and VC are on the same side of the brackets that is gonna be a huge joke come playoff time. It is time to start being about getting the top teams into the title game instead of other issues.

Right now there are a few teams on the bubble in 2A in both the girls and boys side. The bottom of the powerpoints are going to come down to the final games being played.

Now lets talk about what happened this last week in 2A basketball:

Boys Basketball:

SCA over WWP and over Ft. Hills:
Well the hype of this game was much more exciting than the final outcome which was all SCA from beginning to the end. With only 2 turnovers they showed why they are a very good team. WWP is also very tough but I think the schedule of pre-season games is a huge difference for these type of teams. SCA lost their main big kid and reloads with a former NBA players son in Ostertag. So far the only team to come close to SCA besides the OT loss to EFH was VC. We do have film on our site of this game.

VC over Precision:
VC wins this in 2 OTs and Precision may be peaking at the right time. VC has played a tough schedule and will be ready come playoff time.

SanCarlos over Benson by 5:
Sure now other ranking sources have gotten behind the SC bandwagon now but from the out-set they have been in our top 5 because in Antonio they have one of the best players in 2A. Please do not look at this game as a bad victory. Benson is not the team who was struggling early on. They have regrouped and although they have absolutely no depth to speak of they are a very good team and can do it all. They may be one of the more physical teams to play in 2A this season. Benson has Thatcher Tuesday of this week in a game we will cover live and should be a very good game. SC has PRCA coming up and that should also be a great battle.

Willcox:
If you checked out our rankings they have moved up fast and deservingly so. I will have to say that I missed this one because of a loss they had vs Pima but I later found out their main player was out but is now back again. This Willcox team, playing with the confidence they gained from football is a huge threat to get to the state championship this season. This is not a joke at all. In my opinion one of the few rural schools that have a chance is Willcox and they have a great chance. Keep an eye on this Willcox team as a good position in the PPTs will give them a chance to get to the finals as they did in football.

North Teams:
What has happened to Many Farms??? They have dropped off the radar. GreyHills is another nice looking team who may not make the playoffs. However, a team that is on the rise but will not make our top 5 is Williams. They beat MF this last week quite handidly and have 3 games here late that will vault them higher in the PPTs. Luckily they finally jumped into the top 24 and have more than likely secured a playoff spot. Last year Valley Sanders was very tough and this season has dropped off of the map.

ALA over Horizon Honors:
Who saw this coming?? HH is in the playoffs but they are not playing good basketball right now. ALA helped themselves get back into the playoff hunt.

Morenci:
They are on a 4 game losing skid and they will welcome the game vs Tombstone this week as they need to get back on track to keep their playoff hopes a live. The problem is Tombstone can be a dangerous team even after losing a few kids. One day they play with tons of heart and then the next day they struggle with the fundamentals. With 3 games left they need to win 2 of 3 to secure a spot especially with an @ game with Benson in between Tombston and Pima. The game vs Pima could just well be the game that gets them in or out but the Tombstone game is a must win!

Bisbees chances fading away:
They are also on a 4 game losing skid and it does not get better this week! With games with Benson and Willcox they really need to beat Tombstone. They are sitting at #24 right now and even 1 win may not get them into the playoffs.

Tombstone:
How does a coach save his season if you are the Yello Jackets??!! With no chance of making the playoffs they have a chance to hurt 2 rival schools and knock them out of the playoffs with games at Morenci and Bisbee. If Tombstone beats 1 od these teams they are probably out of the playoffs barring no upsets. They end with Thatcher and Willcox but if they can end going 2-2 that would be a great way to head into next season.

NEXT Girls Basketball!