A plan to exclude lower seeded teams from participating in the Region 6-A tournament, a result of the potentially dangerous weather system headed toward north Georgia, will move forward as planned.
The original plan, approved Monday morning by region representatives, calls for cutting out the bottom four teams in subdivided Region 6, so that the tournament may proceed faster. Go here to see the revised schedule. However, some coaches, including Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy girls coach Jackie Cowan, wanted to reconsidering the decision after having more time to ponder its ramifications as a result of games being cancelled on Monday. Cowan's team is the top seed from Region 6-A West.
"Our girls were upset. They wanted to play," Trion athletic director Lanny Thomas, who is also the boys head coach, said Monday afternoon. While his boys squad, the top seed from Region 6-A West, is considered one of the favorites to make a deep run in the state playoffs, the Bulldog girls finished 6-15 overall, 2-10 in region competition. "The thinking was that some teams did not want to travel in the bad weather conditions, and I can understand that. But the season for [the Trion girls] didn't end on the court, and that's how it should be in basketball."
Still, the revised tournament schedule will move forward as planned, according to St. Francis boys head coach Cabral Huff. The top four teams from each sub region will face off on Thursday, weather permitting, in the first round. The boys will play at Trion, the girls at Darlington.
"I understand coach Cowan's feelings, but the athletic directors and principals made this call on Monday," Huff said Tuesday afternoon. The St. Francis boys are the No. 2 seed from Region 6-A East, while the girls are the No. 1 seed. "It's unfortunatel that the weather has caused this."
One idea Cowan suggested had an AAU-style format, where teams would play twice on the same day with at least a four-hour break between games.
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