Madness comes early as region tournaments start
One team per region will advance to state tournament in pandemic-affected year
March is still three weeks away, but the madness is about to start for high school basketball teams in Hampton Roads.
Despite the limited number of teams competing in the area — the Beach District and part of the Bay Rivers District are having winter sports — the region tournaments are moving forward. And, they’re going to look a little different.
Among the biggest differences is that only one team from the regions will advance to the state tournament. In previous years, two teams per region advanced to state.
Here’s a look at the Region A tournaments for each class:
Class 6
Only four teams advanced to each bracket — two from Hampton Roads and two from Chesterfield County, in the western part of Region A.
In the Hampton Roads part of the boys region, Landstown will host Kellam at 6 p.m. Tuesday. The winner will face the winner of Tuesday’s Thomas Dale-James River game on Thursday for a state tournament bid. The site and time will be determined after the semifinals.
On the girls side, Kellam will play host to Tallwood at 6 p.m. Tuesday and will meet the winner of Tuesday’s Cosby-James River game Thursday in the region final. The site and time will be determined after the semifinals.
Class 5
This region has a little controversy. On the boys’ side, Cox earned the top-seed and a first-round bye after finishing the season 1-0. Green Run (5-0) has the second seed. The Falcons earned the top seed by winning a lot draw.
The pairings for the boys’ side are: fourth-seeded Princess Anne will face fifth-seeded Salem at 8 tonight at Green Run. The winner will play at Cox at 6 p.m. Wednesday.
Third-seeded Kempsville will face sixthseeded Bayside at 6 tonight at Kempsville. Second-seeded Green Run will face seventh-seeded First Colonial at 6 tonight at Green Run.
The winners of the Bayside-Kempsville and Green Run-First Colonial games will face each other at 8 p.m. Wednesday at Cox. The region final is set for noon Saturday at Kempsville.
On the girls’ side, Princess Anne earned the top seed and Salem earned the second seed. The top two seeds received first
round byes. Fourth-seeded Kempsville will face fifth-seeded Bayside at 8 p.m. Tuesday at Cox. The winner will face the Cavaliers at 6 p.m. Thursday at Princess Anne.
Third-seeded Cox will play host to sixth-seeded Gloucester at 6 p.m. Tuesday. The winner will face Salem at 8 p.m. Thursday at Princess Anne.
The final is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday at Kempsville.
Class 4
This region is pretty simple. On the girls’ side, Grafton is the lone team in Region A and advances to state.
On the boys’ side, Smithfield and Grafton are the only teams in
Region A. The two teams play for home-court advantage tonight in their final regular-season game. The winner hosts the region final on Friday.
Class 3
On the boys’ side of Region A, Hopewell earned the top seed. Fourth-seeded New Kent will play host to fifth-seeded Tabb at 6 tonight. The winner will play at Hopewell in a semifinal at 8 p.m. Wednesday.
In the other semifinal, thirdseeded York will play at secondseeded Petersburg at 6 p.m. Wednesday. The region final is Friday.
On the girls’ side, top-seeded Hopewell and second-seeded York received first-round byes. Fourth-seeded Petersburg will play host to fifth-seeded Tabb at 6 tonight. The winner will face
Hopewell Wednesday.
Third-seeded New Kent will play host to sixth-seeded Colonial Heights at 8 tonight. The winner will face York on Wednesday. The region final is Friday.
Class 2
On the boys’ side of Region A, fifth-seeded Bruton will play at fourth-seeded Amelia County at 6 tonight. The winner will play at top-seeded King William at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Second-seeded Poquoson will host Windsor at 7 p.m. on Tuesday. The region final is scheduled for Thursday.
On the girls’ side, secondseeded Poquoson will play host to third-seeded Amelia County at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday. The victor will face the winner of the game between top-seeded King William and fourth-seeded Windsor.