Tournament Time – Class 1A Basketball

The last of my preparation is complete; my bags are packed; the laptop is safely secured in its travel bag.

It’s time to head to Hays and the 2010 Class 1A boys and girls state basketball tournament. The top 8 boys teams and top 8 girls teams are all on board for their arrival in Hays today and Wednesday for quarterfinal games at Gross Memorial Coliseum.

If you read today’s Telegram, my column presents an historical look at the Class 1A tournament since this will be the final year for just one tournament in the classification. Next year, there will be a Division I and II, just like the class does in Eight-Man football.

The tournament has been played in Hays since 1974 and Division I will remain there next year. Division II will move to White Auditorium in Emporia.

I will be tweeting on the @GCTSports Twitter account throughout the tournament, writing more blogs, columns in The Telegram daily, game summaries and a notebook. Once there, I want to watch all the teams to get a feel for who may capture championships come Friday night.

Last year’s boys champion (Hanover) and runner-up (Quinter) return as does 2007-08 champion South Gray. Consider that the No. 8 seeded team is 20-4 and you get an idea how tough this tournament will be to win.

On the girls side, St. John-Hudson, the 2009 champion and South Gray, the 2008 champion and 2009 runner-up, are also back for a crack at this year’s title. Greeley County’s boys, 23-1, and girls, 19-5, are in the field.

Don’t overlook the Jackrabbits or Lady Jackrabbits. The boys’only loss was to powerhouse private academy Wichita Sunrise back in December at the Scott City Invitational in the title game. They’ve dispatched of 2A Leoti twice, Syracuse once, 4A Scott City and any other foes on the schedule this year.

The girls team is the unheralded group. But don’t count out this fast-breaking, fast-pressing group of talented athletes who have seemingly peaked at the right time. Coach Tom Farmer brings a career of experiences in big games (having played on the Tribune 1968 boys state title team) and has now put together an 8-player rotation in which all players contribute.

It will be a great four days and I can’t wait to get on the road to Hays. You will find more here later.

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