Weather has put a damper on Class AA schools along with the rest of the state as region tournaments begin. With some tournaments cancelling games Monday through Wednesday - and with the possibility of games being cancelled Thursday and Friday - how the AA playoff seedings will shake out may not be determined until Monday.
Some AA regions are in better position to finish their tournaments on time than others. In fact, Region 8 may get their tournaments finished on time and without cancelling a single game. The original plan was for Rabun County to host the region tournament through it's completion beginning Tuesday and ending on Saturday. But when region planners met on Sunday and realized the weather implications, they made a change.
Planners moved all opening round games to Monday and postponed the semifinals to Friday. For Monday's games instead of Rabun County acting as sole host, games were divided between Rabun County, Greene County and Jefferson. Friday's semifinals, and Saturday's championship and third-place playoff games are scheduled take place at Rabun County as originally planned.
"With the possibility of weather always playing a role in our region competitions, we always try to have a Plan B," Rabun County athletic director Lee Shaw said. "Region 8-AA Basketball coaches met this past Sunday and decided on this alternate plan for our region tournament. I believe they made a very wise decision developing this Plan B, one-day multi-school schedule. This plan has enabled us to play all first round games in one day and avoiding having to cancel any first round games because of weather.
"We will hopefully be back on track (once the weather clears)."
While Region 8 took a proactive stance, most AA regions are playing it by ear. Wesleyan is hosting the Region 6 tournaments and was able to get one boys game in on Monday. The girls game schedule for Monday was cancelled. Luckily for Region 6, it's only a five-team region, so waiting until Friday to play is possible.
However, if tournaments are still unable to resume by Friday, it may force some regions to make teams play twice in one day.
"This will definitely affect a lot of teams," Wesleyan girls coach Jan Azar said. "But it's something we're all dealing with."
Send Adam Krohn an email at AdamKrohnAJC@yahoo.com and follow him on Twitter.
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