The IHSA Class 4A state basketball tournament brackets are out and can be found on the associations website which by the way is a wonderful tool to use if you plan on following the girls state championship series 1A - 4A this year. I suppose like any sports writer charged with covering the post season tournament, I was glued to my computer as the seeding and brackets were announced with an eye on several local teams and where they fell in the pecking order of the bracket.
My eyes were drawn initially to Bolingbrook who has won three straight titles and four of the last six with second place finishes in 2006/07 and 2007/08. In a nutshell they have made an appearance in the state final game each of the past six seasons and have played Chicago Whitney Young the in the semi finals or finals for the past four consecutive years.
Does this sound like tournament officials want a change?
There is zero chance that fans will see in my mind the two best teams in the state square off in the championship this season because both Bolingbrook and Whitney Young are coincidentally on the same side of the bracket. Bolingbrook will play for a sectional title at the Naperville Neuqua Valley sectional and should they advance to the Hinsdale Central super sectional to take on the winner of the LaGrange Lyons sectional which includes potentially you guessed, it Chicago Whitney Young.
Is this merely coincidental that these two teams were suddenly thrust into a crash course at the super sectional game as to be sure one of them would be eliminated before reaching the final four this year? Is the IHSA growing tired of witnessing the same two programs dominate play at the state championship series? Was this an intentional and if so, why?
Should these teams face off in the super sectional and the winner ultimately wins the Class 4A title, won't this be regarded as a snub to one or both of the programs?
Personally, I believe that any team can win on any given day however, this bracket looks to me the same as a pair of loaded dice at the craps table. I suppose my opinion is in the minority but I am certain that the two best teams in my mind have no shot of playing each other for a state title and if that isn't madness I don't know what is.
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