VALDOSTA — Region 1-6A’s boys basketball regular season race will come down to its final night, and with the potential for a four-way tie.
Earlier in the week, Colquitt County head coach Andy Harden and Tift County leader Tommy Blackshear said their teams controlled their own destiny.
Some of that was taken out of the Packers’ hands Tuesday, courtesy of their 74-54 loss to Valdosta. Entering the game, Colquitt had been No. 1 with a 6-3 mark to the Wildcats’ 5-3. Now, the standings switch.
Valdosta will travel to Tift Saturday night. The Blue Devils won the first meeting, 47-34, at VHS. Should Valdosta win the rematch, the Wildcats will be No. 1 and host of next week’s region boys tournament.
Before the Blue Devils suit up against Valdosta, they host Camden County on Friday night. Camden won the meeting in Kingsland, 49-44. If Tift wins Friday and Saturday, the Blue Devils are No. 1 and will host.
If Tift wins over Valdosta, but loses to Camden, everything gets much more chaotic, with the possibility of both a three-way tie between Valdosta, Tift and Colquitt, but that’s only mild chaos.
Four teams finishing 6-4 is quite possible. Colquitt is already there and its region schedule is done. Lowndes could reach it with weekend victories over Richmond Hill and Camden County, as the Vikings are currently 4-4 after slipping past Richmond Hill Tuesday, 54-51.
Valdosta would be 6-4 with a loss to Tift, who could also end up 6-4 if they fall to Camden Friday but beat Valdosta Saturday.
Blackshear provided a copy of the Region 1-6A tiebreaker, which covers three- and four-way ties.
In the event of a three-way tie, “they would go to their records against the 6th place team and, if still tied, would go to total points allowed against all teams in region.”
Sixth-place is currently Camden, which has wins against Tift and Richmond Hill. Tift, currently the only team of the group that has lost to Camden, would be at the disadvantage. For a three-way or four-way tie to happen, Tift would have to lose to Camden again Friday.
Once a three-way tie is broken, it comes down to head-to-head records. If those are even — Valdosta and Colquitt split regular season games — the tiebreaker is margin of victory. In that case, Valdosta would be No. 1 as the Wildcats won by 20 and lost by 2 in the games.
In the event of ultimate chaos, and a four-way tie, the region tiebreaker is “points allowed against the entire region.”
As of Wednesday, Tift had allowed 339 region points with two games to go. Lowndes, also with two games to go, has allowed 366. Valdosta has permitted 425 with one remaining and Colquitt has surrendered 481 on a full schedule.
Lowndes cannot be part of any three-way tie scenario, but only a four-way tie.
Finishing second during the regular season is nearly as valuable as being tournament host. The top two seeds get automatic berths in the Class 6A state tournament.
If the Tift and Colquitt boys tie for second, Tift is No. 2. The Blue Devils swept the regular season series.
The Region 1-6A girls race is still in Lowndes’ hands, though the Vikettes suffered their first region loss of the season Saturday against Tift.
Lowndes is 7-1 after a 54-40 win over second-place Richmond Hill Tuesday night. Both Camden and Richmond Hill are at six wins.
Camden still has two region games to go (Tift, Lowndes) and Richmond Hill has only Friday’s home meeting with Lowndes. The Vikettes won both initial encounters.
Those three schools will make up the girls’ top three seeds next week. Tift or Colquitt will be fourth.