I write this with what can only be described as a district-tournament headache.
It’s a distinctive and yearly occurrence for me, but I can’t complain about the events that brought it on.
Two close championship games in a loud gym, combined with two game stories to write on deadline, left me searching my bag for ibuprofen before I had a chance to really think about what happened.
Now that I have, I can’t help but look forward to the region tournament.
After tonight’s district championships, we now know that the Region 3-A boys’ tournament shapes up like this: Saturday, Tennessee Temple will host Lookout Valley and South Pittsburg will host Silverdale Baptist, with the winners meeting next Tuesday in the semifinals. Also Saturday, Arts & Sciences hosts 21st Century and Grace hosts Whitwell.
The district tournaments proved that upsets are always possible, but if the top seeds advance in the lower half of the bracket, it would set up what could be the game of the year in Chattanooga.
If Grace and Arts & Sciences, who split their games during the regular season, meet in the region semifinals, that means one team will qualify for the state sectionals Tuesday, and the other will end its season.
Both teams are worthy of playing in the state tournament, but because of Grace’s upset loss in the 5-A final, only one of them will have the opportunity to make it.
And although that game would surely be headache-inducing, it’s one I wouldn’t miss for the world.
