TOURNEY SLATE
Today’s area district tournament schedule:5-AAA at Cleveland: Soddy-Daisy girls vs. McMinn County, 6; Soddy-Daisy boys vs. Cleveland, 7:306-A: Lookout Valley girls at Marion County, 6
ENGLEWOOD, Tenn. – The only area boys’ basketball team to be ranked in the state polls, McMinn Central cruised through much of its District 5-AA schedule on the way to a 23-3 overall record, a 7-1 league mark and a ranking as high as No. 6.
Yet the Chargers know that one slip-up in the district tournament can render all that irrelevant.
Their postseason road begins Friday when they play at McMinn County High School against the winner of Thursday’s game between Sweetwater and Polk County.
As currently classified, no team from District 5 has advanced past the quarterfinals of the Region 3-AA tournament, where McMinn Central, Sequoyah, Meigs County and Polk County match up with schools such as Brainerd, Howard, Tyner and East Hamilton. The Chargers suffered a 64-53 loss at East Hamilton back in November, and that was before the Hurricanes got their football players on the court.