Sometimes, region breakdowns just don’t really make sense. And often, member teams are in a position to suffer as equally from geography as they do failures on the court.
Sure, there’s a caveat to that statement.
Yes, the Metro-Atlanta area is highly populated and there are schools on every corner, it seems. And there is a depth of basketball talent around Atlanta which rivals any of the nation’s premier high school basketball powerhouse cities.
But, in the case of the talent-heavy, 10-team Region 6-Division I of Class A, six of the classification’s current Top 10 are vying for the league’s four playoff berths. It’s one of the most-competitive region tournaments in the state but, inevitably, a good team that could possibly compete for a state championship – and has in recent years — could be sent home after a poor showing in the region tournament against five other state championship caliber programs.
Sure, life’s tough sometimes.
But things seem somewhat lopsided when you consider that the league features No. 1 Mount Vernon (13-9, 6-1), No. 3 King’s Ridge (13-5, 4-2), No. 5. St. Francis (10-8, 6-1), No. 7 Mount Bethel (14-5, 6-1), No. 8 Mt. Pisgah (8-14, 3-4) and No. 9 Paideia (9-11, 5-2). King’s Ridge is last year’s Division I defending champion. Mount Pisgah won the Class A Private championship in 2021. St. Francis won back-to-back A Private championships in 2019 and 2020.
They’re talented.
In the latest Score Atlanta rankings, No. 2 Darlington, No. 4 Savannah, No. 6 Woodville-Tompkins, and No. 10 Bleckley County are the only ranked teams hailing from outside the league.
And it is understood that, no. The GHSA reclassification committee does not control a particular region’s talent level and the logistical hell that comes with reclassifying teams is often insurmountable. And often, the chips just fall where they will fall and solutions are often crystal clear in hindsight. But this region’s race doesn’t really help.
It’s made even more interesting that then-No. 9 Paideia’s 61-58 victory over then-No. 1 Mount Vernon Tuesday created a three-way tie at the top of the standings between Mt. Bethel, Mt. Vernon and St. Francis, all at 6-1. Paideia (5-2), King’s Ridge (4-2) and Mount Pisgah (3-4) are chasing.
But with the Region 6′s highest ranked team – No. 1 Mount Vernon – losing to the league’s lowest ranked team – No. 9 Paideia – it shows that the depth of 10-team talent-heavy leagues should probably be considered when deciding a region’s allotted playoff seedings. Should the four-team Regions 1 and 2 be granted the same number of playoff seedings as a 10-team league?
But moreover, it begs the question.
Is the GHSA’s Division I boys tournament being made better by this particular setup?
It seems not.
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