While still two months away, it’s not too soon for high school basketball fans to salivate over a substate basketball tournament featuring both Iola and Humboldt hoopsters.
In fact, the Class 3A Substate that will be hosted by Wellsville — which will have both the Mustangs and Cubs squads — could be one of the toughest in the state, at any level.
On the boys side, Humboldt (6-0) remains the lone unbeaten squad in the bracket, but with powerhouses like Wellsville (4-1) and West Franklin (6-1), not to mention Iola (4-2) and others like Heritage Christian Academy (3-2), the top five schools have a combined record of 23-6.
The girls bracket may be just as competitive, with Anderson County (5-0), Humboldt (5-1), Prairie View (4-1) and Heritage Christian Academy (4-1), combining for a 17-3 record.
Substate tournaments begin Feb. 26. Iola’s girls come out of the Christmas break at 1-5.
LOCAL schools also will need to come out of the Christmas break at high gear.
Iola’s teams will host Fort Scott on Tuesday and Osawatomie next Friday for homecoming. The Mustang teams travel to Wellsville the following week before hosting the second annual War on 54 Tournament the week of Jan. 16, which will bring Humboldt, Marmaton Valley, Crest, Yates Center, Anderson County, Cherryvale and St. Paul to town.
Marmaton Valley and Crest both resume play with Three Rivers League road games on Tuesday. The Wildcats are at Uniontown, while Crest visits Jayhawk-Linn. Both also are on the road next Friday with MV visiting Oswego and Crest at Altoona-Midway.
Humboldt doesn’t resume play until next Friday, but it’s a doozy. The Cubs will travel to Pittsburg to take on perennial power St. Mary’s Colgan, tipping off a month of nothing but road games. Humboldt doesn’t return to the friendly confines of the Humboldt Community Fieldhouse until Feb. 2.
Yates Center resumes play Jan. 9 at Southeast-Cherokee. Southern Coffey County plays next Friday at Lebo.
IOLA and Humboldt wrestlers won’t have to wait much longer to get back into the swing of things, either.
Wrestlers from both teams will head to the Burlington Invitational Jan. 6 to open their respective postseason schedules.
Looking further ahead on the schedule, Iola’s boys will wrestle in the Class 4A Regional in Independence on Feb. 17, while Humboldt will be at the Class 3-1A Regional in Eureka that same day.
On the girls side, both Iola and Humboldt competitors will be at the 4-1A Regional in Columbus on Feb. 10.
