Iola High’s basketball teams will open the Class 4A Substate Tournament in Altamont Tuesday to take on Labette County. FOR THE HONOR of rolling through the regular season undefeated, Humboldt High is “rewarded” with one of the toughest substate brackets in the area. All eight schools in the Class 3A boys substate tournament have at least seven wins. MARMATON VALLEY High’s squads both hold the fifth seeds in their respective divisions of the Class 1A, Division I tournament. Host Olpe High also has the distinction of holding the top seeds in both the boys and girls brackets.
Playoff pairings for the postseason playoffs were announced Wednesday.
The Fillies (1-18) are the seventh seed and will take on the third-seeded Grizzlies (12-7) at 6 p.m. Tuesday. The Mustangs (7-12) holds the sixth seed and will face third-seeded Labette County (14-5) at about 7:30 p.m.
Typically, the boys and girls play on different nights at substate until the championship round. The only exception is when both teams play on the road at the same school, such as in Iola’s case.
If the Mustangs defeat Labette County, they would face either second seed Independence (15-5) or seventh seed Parsons (3-16). Coffeyville’s Field Kindley High holds the top seed at 16-4 and will host eighth seed Towanda-Circle (3-16) Monday. Fourth seed El Dorado (13-6) hosts fifth-seeded Chanute (11-9) in the other quarterfinal.
Independence High School is the host for this year’s Class 4A substate and will serve as the site for the semifinal and final rounds. The semifinals are Thursday, Feb. 28, for the girls and Friday, March 1, for the boys. The substate championship is at 6 p.m. Saturday, March 2, for the girls and 7:30 for the boys.
The Cubs (20-0) have the top seed and will host Jayhawk-Linn (7-12) Tuesday evening in the first round. The winner will face either fourth-seeded Burlington (13-7) or fifth seed West Franklin (11-8). On the other side of the bracket, second seed Eureka (16-4) will host seventh-seeded Fredonia. The winner will take on either third seed Wellsville (14-6) or sixth seed Central Heights (11-9).
On the girls side, Humboldt is the seventh seed, courtesy of its 4-16 record. The Lady Cubs will travel to second-seeded Jayhawk-Linn (12-7) Monday in the first round. The winner will face either third seed Fredonia (11-9) or sixth seed Wellsville (7-13) in the semifinals. Unbeaten Burlington (20-0) is the top seed and will host West Franklin (2-17) Tuesday. Central Heights (10-10) and Eureka (7-13) are the fourth and fifth seeds, respectively.
The road to state truly runs through Humboldt; HHS is the host school for the semifinal and final rounds.
The Wildcat boys (7-12) will travel to fourth-seeded Lebo (9-10) Tuesday, with the winner earning the shot to take on top-seeded Olpe (15-4) on March 1. On the other side of the bracket, third seed Hartford (10-10) will face six seed Olathe-Heritage Christian (6-13), with the winner advancing to take on second-seeded Waverly (15-4). Olpe and Waverly have byes.
Marmaton Valley’s girls (6-13) will travel to fourth-seeded Hartford (8-12) at 7:30 p.m. Monday, with the winner taking on undefeated Olpe (19-0) on Feb. 28 in semifinal action. On the other side of the bracket, third-seeded Lebo (15-4) battles Heritage Christian (1-18), the sixth seed.
Semifinals and finals will be played at the Olpe High School gymnasium.
YATES CENTER High’s squads will hit the road to start Class 2A substate action. The Wildcat boys (4-15) are the seventh seed will travel to second-seeded Oswego (11-9) at 7 p.m. Monday. The winner will advance to the semifinal round Thursday against either third-seeded Sedan (9-12) and sixth seed Uniontown (6-14). West Elk is the top seed at 12-9 and will host Madison/Hamilton in the opening round. Arma-Northeast and Pleasanton are in the other quarterfinal.
On the girls side, Yates Center (7-12) is the sixth seed and will travel to third-seeded Madison/Hamilton (13-7) at 7 p.m. Tuesday. The winner will face either No. 2 seed Sedan (14-6) or seventh-seeded Northeast (7-13) Friday evening. Pleasanton (13-5) is the top seed and takes on eighth-seeded West Elk (5-15). The other quarterfinal matchup pits fifth-seeed Uniontown (9-11) at fourth-seeded Oswego (11-9).
Northeast is the host school for semifinal and final round games.
CREST HIGH’S boys and Southern Coffey County High’s girls are the tops seeds in the Class 1A, Division II substate tournament, hosted by Allen Community College. Both have first-round byes.
On the boys’ side, Crest (14-5) will take on the winner of Altoona-Midway (0-19) or Elk Valley (2-16) next Friday. Second seed Chetopa (13-6) will face third-seed Southern Coffey County (5-14) in the other semifinal.
The Lady Titans (7-12) will face either Crest (2-17) or Altoona-Midway (0-19) in the semifinal next Thursday. Chetopa (6-14) and Elk Valley (3-15) are in the other semifinal.
