Easy pickin’s
- Updated: January 3, 2016
Defending champions Sacred Heart, Anniston pull down top seeds for this year’s Calhoun County Basketball Tournament
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
JACKSONVILLE — There are no upsets yet in the Calhoun County Basketball Tournament.
Defending champion Sacred Heart boys and Anniston girls pulled down their respective No. 1 seeds Sunday for the annual showcase of county basketball at Pete Mathews Coliseum that starts under a new bracket format Jan. 16.
The boys top four seeds: Sacred Heart (13-7), the top-ranked team in Class 1A; Anniston (11-2), which just had its 11-game winning streak snapped last week; White Plains (11-5) and Saks (9-2).
The top four girls seeds: Anniston (7-3), which hasn’t played since Dec. 21; Saks (9-6), a shocking 15 in last year’s blind-draw format; Jacksonville (8-5); and Pleasant Valley (12-2).
The coaches of both top seeds accepted the seeding for what they were, but both said they still it still all has to be proven on the floor.
“I don’t think anything of it, we just come in to seed it so everybody knows when and where they’re going to play and who they’re going to play,” Sacred Heart coach Ralph Graves said. “You’re not going to get any trophy for being seeded No. 1. I come in with the same mentality every year, you just have to get what you get and go from there.”
“I really don’t put a lot into (the seedings),” Anniston coach Eddie Bullock said. “I appreciate it — it’s always nice to be chosen by your peers, that’s always a compliment when they do that, but you really have to go out and play … and that’s our focus because you’ve got some pretty good teams in there this year.”
There’s a lot different about this year’s tournament, much of which the coaches favored.
This year’s bracket features the six lowest seeds playing in the first column of the bracket, allowing some teams that may be exited early in the past with a lopsided loss the chance to experience more of the tournament. The top four seeds don’t play until Jan. 20 at the earliest.
“Everybody wants to play games,” Bullock said. “Those teams want to play, too. It gives them an opportunity to at least get two, possibly three, games in the tournament. You don’t want to lose early and then end up only practicing the whole week, because that’s a long time.”
There are games scheduled every day of the tournament week except Sunday. Because of a conflict with the building’s primary tenant, there will be three games on the opening Saturday — two boys, one girls — starting at 4:30 p.m.
Additionally, all 15 teams were seeded, and the process featured open discussion among the coaches for their positions, similar to the county baseball tournament’s seeding meeting.
The potential tension of debate or campaigning never materialized and both sets of seedings were completed in less than 15 minutes.
The first real “debate” on the boys side was whether Oxford or Saks should be 4 or 5 and that was defused by a show of hands. Same for Ohatchee, Pleasant Valley and Jacksonville at 9, 10 and 11.
“I thought the top seeds were the top seeds,” Graves said, pulling out a crib sheet to display all his research.
If there was one concern it was the limited amount of information available to the coaches on the teams to help justify their votes. A few coaches commented they’d be voting for teams they had beaten in certain tiebreakers based on the simple won-loss information at hand.
One team that clearly benefitted from the new format was the Saks’ girls. Last year the Lady Wildcats had one of the better teams in the county, but because of the blind draw they the No. 15 seed, opposite Anniston for an opening-round matchup that seemed more appropriate for later in the tournament.
“It just feels good to finally be recognized and people are … thinking we’re a good ball team, which I thought all along,” Saks coach Michelle Lively said. “And I had the same team I had last year, so it’s kind of funny that I was a 15 last year and now I get voted a 2. I don’t think I was a 2 last year, but I at least thought I was in the top four.”
Other items to come from the principals meeting, the county volleyball title match will remain on Monday (at JSU if they can get the venue), the county cross country meet will move to a Thursday to provide ample recovery time from the previous weekend and the county track meet will be the second Tuesday in April.
CALHOUN COUNTY BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
(Records: overall, vs. county teams)
Boys seeds: 1. Sacred Heart (13-7, 2-0), 2. Anniston (11-2, 1-0), 3. White Plains (11-5, 5-1), 4. Saks (9-2, 4-0), 5. Oxford (8-7, 0-0), 6. Alexandria (8-2, 2-1), 7. Weaver (7-8, 3-5), 8. Piedmont (7-5, 1-3), 9. Jacksonville (3-8, 2-2), 10. Ohatchee (8-8, 4-4), 11. Pleasant Valley (5-8, 3-2), 12. Faith Christian (8-5, 1-3), 13. Wellborn (1-5, 0-5), 14. Donoho (4-6, 1-0), 15. Jacksonville Christian (3-6, 0-3).
Girls seeds: 1. Anniston (7-3, 1-0), 2. Saks (9-6, 3-0), 3. Jacksonville (8-5, 3-1), 4. Pleasant Valley (12-2, 7-1), 5. Piedmont (5-7, 2-2), 6. Ohatchee (8-7, 5-3), 7. Alexandria (4-4, 1-1), 8. Oxford (6-6, 2-0), 9. Wellborn (6-6, 2-3), 10. Jacksonville Christian (7-2, 2-1), 11. Weaver (6-7, 2-5), 12. White Plains (3-8, 1-7), 13. Faith Christian (4-4, 1-3), 14. Donoho (0-8, 0-1), 15. Sacred Heart (0-5, 0-2).
CALHOUN COUNTY BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
Boys Tournament
Jan. 16
No. 13 Wellborn vs. No. 12 Faith Christian, 4:30 p.m.
No. 14 Donoho vs. No. 11 Pleasant Valley, 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 18
No. 10 Ohatchee vs. No. 15 JCA, 10:30 a.m.
No. 8 Piedmont vs. No. 9 Jacksonville, 1:30 p.m.
No. 5 Oxford vs. Wellborn-Faith winner, 4:30 p.m.
No. 6 Alexandria vs. Donoho-Pleasant Valley winner, 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 19
No. 7 Weaver vs. Ohatchee-JCA winner, 6 p.m.
Jan. 20
No. 4 Saks vs. Oxford/Wellborn-Faith winner, 5:30 p.m.
No. 1 Sacred Heart vs. Piedmont-Jacksonville winner, 8:30 p.m.
Jan. 21
No. 3 White Plains vs. Alexandria/Donoho-PV winner, 4 p.m.
No. 2 Anniston vs. Weaver/Ohatchee-JCA winner, 7 p.m.
Jan. 22
Semifinals, 5:30 p.m.
Semifinals, 8:30 p.m.
Jan. 23
Championship, 8 a.m.
Girls Tournament
Jan. 16
No. 13 Faith Christian vs. No. 12 White Plains, 6 p.m.
Jan. 18
No. 14 Donoho vs. No. 11 Weaver, 9 a.m.
No. 10 Jacksonville Christian vs. No. 15 Sacred Heart, noon
No. 8 Oxford vs. No. 9 Wellborn, 3 p.m.
No. 5 Piedmont vs. Faith-White Plains winner, 6 p.m.
Jan. 19
No. 6 Ohatchee vs. Donoho-Weaver winner, 4:30 p.m.
No. 7 Alexandria vs. JCA-Sacred Heart winner, 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 20
No. 4 Pleasant Valley vs. Piedmont/Faith-White Plains winner, 4 p.m.
No. 1 Anniston vs. Oxford-Wellborn winner, 7 p.m.
Jan. 21
No. 3 Jacksonville vs. Ohatchee/Donoho-Weaver winner, 5:30 p.m.
No. 2 Saks vs. Alexandria/JCA-Sacred Heart winner, 8:30 p.m.
Jan. 22
Semifinals, 4 p.m.
Semifinals, 7 p.m.
Jan. 23
Championship, 6 p.m.
CALHOUN COUNTY JUNIOR HIGH BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
Girls Tournament
(Big School at Jacksonville)
Jan. 25
No. 4 Jacksonville (7-4, 5-3) vs. No. 5 Alexandria (6-4, 9-4), 6 p.m.
Jan. 26
No. 3 Anniston (4-3, NA) vs. No. 6 Oxford (2-3, NA), 4:30 p.m.
No. 2 Saks (7-0, 6-0) vs. No. 7 Weaver (2-6, 2-6), 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 27
No. 1 White Plains (11-0, 8-0) vs. Jacksonville-Alexandria winner, 4 p.m.
Jan. 28
Anniston-Oxford winner vs. Saks-Weaver winner, 5 p.m.
Jan. 29
Championship, 5 p.m.
(Small School at Pleasant Valley)
Jan. 25
No. 3 Donoho vs. No. 6 Wellborn, 3 p.m.
No. 2 Sacred Heart vs. No. 7 Piedmont, 6 p.m.
Jan. 26
No. 4 Ohatchee vs. No. 5 Pleasant Valley, 3 p.m.
No. 1 Faith Christian vs. No. 8 Jacksonville Christian, 6 p.m.
Jan. 27
Sacred Heart-Piedmont winner vs. Donoho-Wellborn winner, 3 p.m.
Faith Christian-JCA winner vs. Ohatchee-Pleasant Valley winner, 6 p.m.
Jan. 29
Championship, 5:30 p.m.
Boys Tournament
(Big School at Jacksonville)
Jan. 25
No. 4 White Plains vs. No. 5 Saks, 4:30 p.m.
No. 3 Weaver vs. No. 6 Anniston, 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 26
No. 2 Alexandria vs. No. 7 Jacksonville, 6 p.m.
Jan. 27
No. 1 Oxford vs. White Plains-Saks winner, 5:30 p.m.
Jan. 28
Weaver-Anniston winner vs. Alexandria-Jacksonville winner, 6:30 p.m.
Jan. 29
Semifinals, 7 p.m.
(Small School at Pleasant Valley)
Jan. 25
No. 3 Ohatchee vs. No. 6 Pleasant Valley, 4:30 p.m.
No. 2 Donoho vs. No. 7 Wellborn, 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 26
No. 4 Faith Christian vs. No. 5 Jacksonville Christian, 4:30 p.m.
No. 1 Piedmont vs. No. 8 Sacred Heart, 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 27
Donoho-Wellborn winner vs. Ohatchee-Pleasant Valley winner, 4:30 p.m.
Piedmont-Sacred Heart winner vs. Faith-JCA winner, 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 29
Championship, 7 p.m.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login