End In Sight In Gsl, But ‘Overtime’ Likely

Two nights left and too many games to watch.

That’s how the Greater Spokane League basketball season is going to end, if it ends on time.

There’s a better chance it will go into overtime after the final buzzer Thursday night than go straight into District 8 play next week.

The top six boys and girls teams make the district tournaments, which begin next Tuesday at the Arena. Three girls teams and two boys teams are still battling for the last spot in each race.

Just as tight is the race for the top two, which earn automatic berths in the regional tournaments. Four boys teams are fighting for the two spots and three girls teams are tied for the two spots.

Any ties for second or sixth are played off - Saturday if it’s a two-way tie, Friday and Saturday for three-way ties. All other ties, for seeding purposes, are determined by whichever team won the head-to-head matchup in the second half of the season.

Biggest game tonight is between the Ferris and Mead girls at the Arena at 6:15. Both are 14-2 and tied with Central Valley for first.

Although it’s not prudent to hand any team a win, in all likelihood, tonight’s loser probably finishes third. That means if Mead wins, the Panthers should get the No. 2 seed and CV the No. 1 because the Bears swept the season series with Mead. If Ferris wins, the Saxons could go to No. 1 for sweeping CV. In the first game, Mead rallied from a big first-half deficit to beat Ferris.

CV finishes at Rogers tonight and Shadle Park on Thursday.

The Ferris-Mead boys game is also huge. Ferris won the first game 61-48 and has a one-game edge over the Panthers and Lewis and Clark. The Saxons are 13-3, a game behind CV, which sews up the top seed with a win at Rogers or Shadle.

Even with a win, Ferris wouldn’t lock up second because the Saxons face LC on Thursday at 7:15 at the Arena. The Tigers handed Ferris its first loss of the season, 52-43.

LC is at Gonzaga Prep tonight. Mead finishes at North Central.

At the other end of the spectrum, LC at Gonzaga Prep games are crucial for the Bullpups in both races. The reality of the situation is the Prep girls have to sweep LC and Rogers to have a shot at the post-season. If the boys sweep, they’re in.

North Central boys and University girls are eyeing those games.

NC plays University tonight and Mead on Thursday. With a split, the Indians need LC and Rogers to win to force a playoff with Prep for the final berth.

The U-Hi girls close with NC and Mt. Spokane. The Titans can grab undisputed sixth if LC beats Prep and Prep beats Rogers. That’s assuming the Titans sweep the bottom two teams and their first-place rival CV beats Rogers.

If the Titans sweep, Prep must sweep LC and Rogers to force a tie. To be part of the tie, Rogers would have to beat CV or Prep or eliminate U-Hi with a sweep.

It can be confusing, but isn’t that the way a season’s supposed to end?

Frontier League

A quadrupleheader today at Eastern Washington University will launch the double-elimination District 7 3A Tournament.

In boys, East Valley and West Valley meet at 3 p.m., with Cheney and Clarkston playing at 6:30.

On the girls side, EV and WV play at 4:45, with Cheney and Clarkston capping the day at 8:15.

Tonight’s winners play Friday at EWU for a berth in the regional against Mid-Valley League teams. A second regional berth will go to the survivors Saturday night.

The Frontier will have two each boys and girls teams and the MidValley four of each when regional action begins Feb. 24 at EWU.

, DataTimes