Thursday, January 6, 2011

Seeding doesn't matter ...

Ballard Memorial proved the point a year ago, knocking off three higher-seeded teams en route to the school's first All A Classic regional title.

This year, the shoe could be on the other foot.

A little over 24 hours after the Bombers were awarded the top seed in this year's small-school meet, the Bombers were beaten 59-49 at Carlisle County, which had dropped to the No. 7 seed after a disastrous three-game visit to Allen County's Christmas tournament.

"I wouldn't be surprised if we dropped a spot with every loss," said Carlisle coach Brian O'Neill, whose club went into the tournament with a 6-2 record and shot less than 30 percent in losses to the host school, Christian Academy of Louisville and Gallatin County "Going up there, I thought we had a chance at being either three or four, and on the way back, I knew we could be anywhere down to seven."

Ballard, Fulton County and Heath are the top three seeds and considered nearly equals, but Carlisle's win is an indication that one of the middle-tier clubs could rise up and knock off a top-tier team in a couple of weeks.

Mayfield is starting to get healthy, with guard William Higginson and forward Jonathan Jackson recovering from football injuries. St. Mary, which took Heath to the wire on Tuesday night, plays solid defense but has problems putting points on the board.

There will be a few more key matchups to watch in the week leading up to the All A Classic. Mayfield takes on district rivals Ballard and St. Mary next week and Carlisle hosts Fulton County on Thursday.

No comments: