Can Memphis sweep DII-A and DII-AA boys tournaments?
With five of the eight semifinal teams playing in Nashville for this weekend's Division II boys basketball state tournament being from the Memphis area, the Bluff City has a decent shot at sweeping both title games.
ECS, FACS and Lausanne advanced to the DII-A semifinals, which means that Memphis will be represented in the championship game.
All three teams play Thursday at Lipscomb University. Lausanne will take on defending state champ Knoxville Webb at 1:15 p.m. and ECS will play FACS at 4:45.
FACS has beaten ECS twice, winning 64-57 on Jan. 14 and 55-43 on Feb. 7.
Briarcrest and Christian Brothers are in the DII-AA semifinals and on opposite sides of the bracket, so if they win they will play each other for a state title.
Defending state champ Briarcrest beat Christian Brothers twice in the regular season, winning 71-50 on Jan. 17 and 50-46 on Feb. 7.
The Saints will take on Baylor Friday at 1:30 p.m. and Christian Brothers will play Knoxville Catholic at 4:45.
MHSAA semifinals
Olive Branch and Southaven were eliminated in the MHSAA Class 6A boys state quarterfinals, and Hernando was eliminated in the 6A girls quarterfinals over the weekend.
That means defending state champs Center Hill (boys) and Olive Branch (girls) are the only Desoto County teams left in the semifinals.
Center Hill was set to play Forest Hill Tuesday and Olive Branch will play Harrison Central Wednesday at 4 p.m. at the Mississippi Coliseum.
DII girls
The Tipton-rosemark girls will make its first state tournament appearance.
The berth comes a year after Cedric Anderson, who coaches the boys and the girls teams, led the boys team to its first state tournament appearance in over a decade.
The Lady Rebels are set to play Trinity Christian on Thursday at 3:15 p.m.
Briarcrest will take on Brentwood Academy at 3:15 p.m. on Friday in the DII-AA semifinals.
Brentwood Academy has made appearances at every DII-AA championship game since 2013 and won titles in 2014, 2016 and 2018.
Briarcrest's last time making it past the semifinals was in 2015.
The Saints last won a state title in 2004.