IHS gears up for tourney

BURLINGTON — Iola High’s girls have the unenviable task of taking on undefeated Burlington High to start the 2013 Burlington Invitational Tournament starting Tuesday.
The top-seeded Wildcats (8-0) will host the eighth-seed Fillies (0-8) at 5:05 p.m. Tuesday at the Burlington High School gymnasium.
The contest marks the second time the two teams have played this season. Burlington rolled to a 67-11 win Dec. 4.
On the boys side, Iola (4-4) has secured the sixth seed in their bracket and will take on third-seeded Sabetha (5-3) at 8:15 p.m. Tuesday, also in the BHS gym.
The girls bracket is loaded to the gills, with six teams sporting records at 6-2 or better for the 2012-13 season.
Other teams in the girls tournament are second-seeded Pittsburg (8-1), third-seeded Rossville (6-1), fourth-seeded Paola (6-2), fifth-seeded Sabetha (6-2), sixth-seeded Labette County (6-2) and seventh-seeded Rossville (1-8).
The Burlington-Iola winner will face the winner of the other first-round matchup between Paola-Sabetha Tuesday at the Burlington Middle School gym.
The winners of those two matchups will play at 6:40 p.m. Jan. 18 at the high school gym. The losers will play at 6:40 p.m. Friday at the middle school gym.
Santa Fe Trail will face Rossville Tuesday, while Pittsburg tips off against Santa Fe. The two winners and losers from those games will square off in semifinal action Jan. 18.

LABETTE COUNTY (7-1) holds the top seed in the boys bracket. Host Burlington (5-2) is second, Pittsburg (4-3) is fourth, Paola (4-4) is fifth, Santa Fe Trail (3-4) is seventh and Rossville (2-7) is eighth.
The winner of the Iola-Sabetha matchup will take on the winner of the Burlington-Santa Fe Trail contest at 8:15 p.m. Friday in the high school gymnasium. Likewise, the losers will square off at the same time Jan. 18 in the middle school.
Opposite Iola’s side of the bracket, Labette County plays Rossville Tuesday, while Pittsburg takes on Paola. Those matchups will determine Friday’s semifinal opponents.
The fifth-place, third-place and championship games in both boys and girls brackets will be Jan. 19.