The 33rd, 34th, and 36th District Championship games will be held on Friday night while the 35th District Championship game is scheduled to be played on Saturday night.

 

We've come to believe that the 9th Region is basically CovCath & Cooper's to lose.

 

Though teams like Dixie, Lloyd, Conner, NewCath etc... are competitive and certainly no slouches, still most will agree that the Blue Colonels and the Jags have the edge.

 

Let's say that Conner (who's pretty hot right now) and Cooper advance to the 33rd Championship game and Conner has the game of their lives and beats Cooper. (Not probable, but certainly not impossible).

 

Let's say that CovCath advances to the 35th Championship game to play the winner of Holy Cross/Beechwood.

 

Knowing that Cooper has already lost, if CovCath wins they now would have a 1 in 3 chance of picking Cooper in the 1st round of the 9th Region Tourney, yet if they lost they have zero chance of facing Cooper in the first round.

 

Sure there's no guarantee that they still won't meet them in the semi's or the finals, but most teams like to avoid their toughest foes if all possible, and if CovCath had the chance I'll assume that the last team they'd like to see in the 1st round was Cooper.

 

Does CovCath throw this game to avoid the chance of facing Cooper in the first round?

 

Quite often the 9th Region will have a Friday/Saturday district championship format

 

Wouldn't having all 4 district championships played on the same night prevent this type of thinking, and though perhaps not this year, isn't it possible for when games are held on two separate nights that it opens the door to this sort of possibility?

No - you don't lose games intentionally, especially in late February or March.

No - you don't lose games intentionally, especially in late February or March.

 

Agreed and chances are you are going to play each other at some point so why not get it over with. You are playing for the regional title not runner up.

If they are your perceived toughest matchup, then why not get them out of the way in the first round? Going to have to beat them one of the three games anyway.

Plus, karma can be a you-know-what. Why invite bad karma?

Always play to win, strategy is one thing but integrity is far more important.

 

Having said that several District losers have gone on to win the Region, just not intentionally.

You play to win the game

I would be shocked if it even crossed a coach like "Coach R's" mind, or for that matter any coach with an ounce of integrity. They know there is an excellent chance to play again. When probably doesn't matter. Unless you had sickness that takes a few days to get over the round doesn't matter, sickness can happen anytime.

Not a coach in this region that is going to lose a game intentionally or rest starters to avoid playing another team.

Always play to win, strategy is one thing but integrity is far more important.

 

Having said that several District losers have gone on to win the Region, just not intentionally.

 

Mason Co. 2016