Round 2 recaps: A-5A
Round 2 of the A-5A lacrosse tournaments were completed on Saturday. Because A-5A is a 16-team bracket, Round 2 winners are in the semifinals, which will be played on Wednesday. On the boys' side, the final four are Lovett, Blessed Trinity, GAC and Westminster. On the girls' side, it's Westminster, Blessed Trinity, Wesleyan and Kell.
In 6A-7A, some second round games were completed on Monday and the rest will be completed on Tuesday, which sets the stage for the quarterfinals to be played on Friday. We'll break down Round 2 on Friday, ahead of that day's quarterfinals matchups. Go here for updated 6A-7A brackets for the boys, and here for the girls.
(Here are predictions made for all brackets before the state playoffs began.)
Below are some Round 2 highlights in A-5A:
Boys: (updated bracket)
- I correctly picked all semifinalists for this bracket. All but one of those teams — the Blessed Trinity Titans — advanced with relative ease. The Titans needed overtime to escape Kell at home with a 9-8 win. The No. 4 Titans will now face a No. 2 Lovett Lions team that advanced with a 16-8 win over No. 7 Starr's Mill.
- On paper it could be considered by some to be an upset, but the No. 5 GAC Spartans handily beat No. 3 Marist 19-14. The War Eagles had the better ranking and better-looking record (15-3) heading into the matchup, but the Spartans (12-6) played a tougher schedule and had already beaten Marist earlier in the season. The Spartans now play top-ranked Westminster, which beat unranked McIntosh 19-8.
Girls: (updated bracket)
- I batted .500 on picking the final four for this bracket, hitting on Blessed Trinity and Wesleyan and missing on Kell and Starr's Mill. In fact, it's looking like I made a big mistake in looking past the Kell Longhorns, a traditional powerhouse that appeared to be having a down season, unranked and owners of an unassuming 9-9 record heading into the tournament. But they closed the season by outscoring their opponents 40-1 in their final two games and have won their first two playoff games 41-6. Now they look as good as any team remaining and they're just two seasons removed from back-to-back state titles. Last season they came up just short of a third consecutive title, losing 15-13 to Blessed Trinity. Next for Kell is No. 7 Wesleyan, which edged No. 5 St. Pius 17-16.
- The top-ranked Blessed Trinity Lady Titans look like a team poised to repeat, toppling No. 6 Marist 20-7. They have outscored their first two tournament opponents 28-8. On deck is No. 3 Westminster, which beat No. 2 Starr's Mill 15-12. The Lady Titans have already played Westminster in the regular season, beating them 21-8 at home on March 30.
