Draw took place today...Games at Nelson Co. High School

 

March 2, 6:00 pm 20th District Winner vs 19th District Runner Up

March 2, 8:00 pm 17th District Winner vs 18th District Runner Up

 

March 3, 6:00 pm 19th District Winner vs 20th District Runner Up

March 3, 8:00 pm 18th District Winner vs 17th District Runner Up

 

Semifinals March 7th, 6 & 8:45 pm

 

Finals March 8th, 7:30 pm

Interesting. I didn't know that any region did draws prior to the teams earning their slots. I like it on the one hand that it takes some guesswork out, but on the other hand, if you saw that it would be beneficial to lose your finals, why wouldn't you do that?

They did a draw before the district winners are determined? I don't want to call anything dumb but may I ask why?

I am surprised at this as well.

Interesting. I didn't know that any region did draws prior to the teams earning their slots. I like it on the one hand that it takes some guesswork out, but on the other hand, if you saw that it would be beneficial to lose your finals, why wouldn't you do that?

 

Personally I would never lose a district championship to change the outcome of the region setup. I think most coaches would agree.

I think that is why it has never been done to my knowledge.

I could see doing this if weather had caused problems for tournaments. For instance, if district tournaments were delayed by snow and the finals were tonight, with the region set to start tomorrow night. Otherwise, I think this is ridiculous.

Personally I would never lose a district championship to change the outcome of the region setup. I think most coaches would agree.

 

If my ultimate goal was to win region - and almost everyone's is over the district title game - then I'd at least consider it if it was lopsided enough. I've seen some setups where it clearly benefited the district runner-up.

If my ultimate goal was to win region - and almost everyone's is over the district title game - then I'd at least consider it if it was lopsided enough. I've seen some setups where it clearly benefited the district runner-up.

 

I agree 100%. There are multiple occasions where the draw favors the runner-up. But it would be difficult for me to strategize and game plan a losing effort in a district championship game just so I have a slightly better road at the regional tournament. Regardless, if you win a region title you most usually end up playing the best teams. Whether it's in the first round or championship game.

 

I can see the argument from both sides. Wouldn't have hurt to wait till after the championship games, but I don't really see it as much of an issue. I think most coaches are going to try and win every game no matter what. Especially to win a district championship.

Personally I would never lose a district championship to change the outcome of the region setup. I think most coaches would agree.

 

Have we already forgotten why this is a bad idea?

Riverdale, Smyrna girls deliberately try to lose game, get kicked out of playoffs

Girls region starts Sunday, so that may have something to do with this coming down early. Right now, here's who I would normally expect to see in those slots:

 

Wednesday

20th winner (Taylor Co.) v. 19th runner-up (Nelson or Bethlehem)

17th winner (North Hardin) v. 18th runner-up (Caverna)

 

Thursday

19th winner (Bardstown) v. 20th runner-up (Adair Co)

18th winner (Green Co.) v. 17th runner-up (Central Hardin)

I could see potential there for tanking the district championship to get on a better half of the region bracket.

I could see potential there for tanking the district championship to get on a better half of the region bracket.

 

The only ones who would do that would be North and/or Taylor as they are stuck with the worse draw in the potential of being knocked out in the SFs. How weird would it be if they both sandbagged in the district final and got tossed into the same side of the bracket with Bardstown?

17th and 20th finals are on different nights, so it will be interesting to see what Taylor does Saturday if NH wins Friday.

Last week, Taylor played Nelson at home. They were up by like 30 in the second half and still had the starting five in. After the game, I asked one of the players why? He said Gatewood wanted to send a message to Nelson that this was only beatdown round one with round two coming in the region since there was a good chance that Nelson would be the two seed out of their district. Based on that, it appears Gatewood anticipated winning the district. I am guessing that for Gatewood, it doesn't really matter if they play North Hardin in the semis or the finals. Either way North gets a rematch with Taylor. Given that you have to win the region to make it to Rupp, semis or finals doesn't really matter, they would play each other either way. The team that should be the happiest with the draw is Central since North, Taylor, and Caverna all ended up on the other side of the bracket.