The two Class 5A region basketball tournaments taking place in the “Southern Six” this week won’t follow the same scripts as those are doing in Class 6A.
The Region 7-5A Tournament takes place in Long Beach and will tip off Monday with pair of girls’ games on Monday night and then be followed by a pair of boys’ opening round games on Tuesday night. Girls’ championship and consolation games will be played Thursday night and the boys will follow suit in the same fashion Friday night.
The Picayune boys are the top seed in the tourney as are the West Harrison girls. Both the Maroon Tide and Lady Canes went unbeaten at 6-0 in league action during the regular season.
The Region 8-5A tourney in Lucedale at George County High School will unfold thusly: There will be four games played on both Tuesday and Friday (two girls’ games and a pair of boys’ games each day). Opening round games are on Tuesday while consolation and championship contests take place on Friday.
The host George County boys and the Gautier girls are the top seeds in the tourney. Both the Rebels and Lady Gators went unbeaten at 6-0 in league action during the regular season.
For most squads, no matter if you were undefeated or winless throughout the regular season, a single win this week puts you in the overall state playoffs which begin on Monday, Feb. 13th.
The top three teams in each region qualify for the state playoffs in both girls’ and boys’ play.
In Class 5A play, the winners of opening round tourney games earn automatically secure a spot in the state playoffs and advance to the title game later in the week.
The opening-round losing teams still have another shot to advance in the postseason, as those teams will move on to the consolation game against another opening-round losing team from the opposite side of the bracket. The winner of consolation games advance to the state playoffs as three seed from their respective region, but for the losing squad in the consolation game, it’s two strikes and you’re out.
Here are the complete schedules for both of the Class 5A tournaments in the “Southern Six” this week.
Region 7-5A
At Long Beach
Boys
Tuesday
6 p.m. — West Harrison vs. Long Beach
7:30 p.m. — Picayune vs. Pearl River Central
Friday
6 p.m. — Consolation Game.
7:30 p.m. — Championship Game.
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Girls
Monday
6 p.m. — Long Beach vs. Pearl River Central
7:30 p.m. — West Harrison vs. Picayune
Thursday
6 p.m. — Consolation Game.
7:30 p.m. — Championship Game.
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Region 8-5A
At George County
Boys
Tuesday
5:30 p.m. — Gautier vs. Vancleave
8:30 p.m. — George County vs. East Central
Friday
5:30 p.m. — Consolation Game
8:30 p.m. — Championship Game
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Girls
Tuesday
4 p.m. — Gautier vs. Vancleave
7 p.m. — East Central vs. George County
Friday
4 p.m. — Consolation Game
7 p.m. — Championship Game
