All local teams conclude their regular seasons this week, and if Friday night’s action is any indication, there is still plenty of excitement out there before district tournament pairings are determined.
Cleveland’s Raiders and Lady Raiders traveled to Ooltewah Friday night and posted impressive wins (see story on Page 19). The Raiders’ victory places the Ooltewah Owls in jeopardy of losing their No. 1 seed in District 5-AAA play. If the Owls were to lose one of their final two games ... against McMinn County Tuesday or a repeat engagement with Cleveland on Thursday ... they could drop into a tie in the 5-AAA standings.
Ooltewah’s boys have lost two games, while Cleveland, Bradley Central and McMinn County all have three setbacks in 5-AAA action.
Bradley Central’s boys remained in the running Friday with a victory over Rhea County (see story on Page 21). Bradley’s Bearettes also scored a big win.
The Walker Valley Lady Mustangs won their 20th game of the season Friday over Soddy-Daisy (see story on Page 19), and have already clinched the No. 1 seed in the 5-AAA district tournament. The Mustangs scored their second win over the season over the Trojans, which guaranteed they will not be the seventh and last seed in tournament play.
Polk County’s Wildkittens and Wildcats both lost big 5-AA games Friday at McMinn Central and continue to jockey for seeding positions in the upcoming district tournament.
The McMinn Central girls, like the Walker Valley girls in AAA, are one of the state’s highest ranked AA teams.
See the On Tap feature on today’s scoreboard (Page 18) for a listing of basketball games during this final week of regular season play.
