Brian Picks (guesses) the Girls BB Tourneys

Well, it's that time again. March Madness - one of the best times of the year. For me, it's one of the best times of the year because it all leads up to the best day in the entire sports calendar...Major League Baseball Opening Day! But that'll be saved for another post. Today the State Girls Basketball Tournaments tip off, and since I've made such a habit of making picks, I figured I'd better get my two cents in here, just in the event that I turn out to be right on a few for this coming weekend.

First of all, we all wish the best of luck to the Highmore-Harrold Lady Pirates. It's been a great season so far, and when you think about it, sure, there are some teams that pull it off but not many - think about how many teams in Class B (or A) make it to the State Tournament in both volleyball and basketball. This year only Highmore-Harrold in Class B pulled that feat, and in Class A, only Mobridge-Pollock has done it, so that's pretty kool. Obviously in AA, it's more likely to happen, but look at Aberdeen Central - they won the State Volleyball Tournament, and are the odds-on favorite to win in basketball as well. But enough about that, let's look at the brackets.

In Class B, as much as I will root for the Pirates, I'm afraid the deck will be stacked against them. The B could really go a lot of different ways, and I really don't see any blowouts happening. I have been picking Newell all season long, since they finished third in Class A last year and really didn't lose anyone this year as they dropped to Class B. They breezed through a mostly-Class A schedule stumbled only once against Wall, who also happens to be in the same bracket. I'll stick with Newell and pick them to win it all, but Summit, the defending champion, fresh off their upset of unbeaten Ipswich, may stand in the way and cause some problems. The other team I expect to do well is James Valley Christian. Finally, they didn't have to get past Sully Buttes to get to State, but this may be their best team ever. They come in with only one loss this year, and that came against.....? Highmore-Harrold. I guess with that said, I should definitely not count out the Lady Pirates. But, my first instincts tell me Class B will finish like this:
1) Newell 2) JVC 3) Summit 4) Castlewood 5) Wall 6) Freeman 7) Viborg 8) Highmore-Harrold
(Ladies, prove me wrong, and I'll get you all Player of the Game t-shirts!) :o)

In Class A, I am really excited with the way Mobridge-Pollock has been playing, and if they can pull the upset in the first round, I think they can really go the distance. But this bracket can go several ways as well, and you still have a couple of once-beaten teams (Sisseton & Elkton), a defending champion (Pine Ridge), and a few other teams that have pulled some huge upsets to make the tournament field, in Dakota Valley and Tri-Valley. But in the A, I look for the top two seeds to meet in the final, but for Mobridge to win out in the consolation. Here's what I see:
1) Sisseton 2) Elkton-LB 3) Pine Ridge 4) Clark/WL 5) Mobridge-Pollock 6) Dakota Valley 7) Stickney/MV 8) Tri-Valley

And in Class AA, my only wish was that the Pierre Lady Govs were still in the tournament field. We have kind of grown used to seeing them there, but we'll have to adjust this weekend and watch some pretty good teams all try to knock Aberdeen Central off their top-ranked pedestal (good luck with that). The one thing that doesn't look right, though, is that only two ESD teams are in that tournament, but worse than that - ALL FOUR Sioux Falls schools are there. Well, before the Argus can predict the balance of power in GBB shifting to Sioux Falls, like it did in football, we'll give them their one year and then come back smoking next year - how's that sound? Here is the final finish for AA as I see it:
1) Aberdeen 2) SF Roosevelt 3) RC Central 4) SF Washington 5) Huron 6) SF O'Gorman 7) SF Lincoln 8) RC Stevens

Chances are, if they played the A & B tournaments out 5 teams, they could have five different champions, so let's keep in mind, these picks are for entertainment purposes only - unless I'm dead on, and I can ultimately pull the see-I-told-you-so card. Good luck to all, especially those from our neck of the woods, and we'll take a look at the boys tournaments next week.
-Radiooo