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 ORDER GAME PHOTOS
District Tournament Brackets Here
In case you missed it over the weekend, the Class 1AD2 Rocky Mountain Conference (District 5-6) continued its run as the only conference to begin district tournament play. Saturday saw three of the four top seeds (Mackay, Leadore and Rockland) advance to the semifinals. Only fourth-seeded Grace Lutheran suffered an upset against fifth-seeded North Gem.
Every other league will start their district tournament action this week or next week, and pretty soon, the puzzle pieces that comprise the Real Dairy Shootout will begin to be put in place. During the run-up to state, I'll provide a daily update on the biggest developments from each night of district tourney action, and I'll project each state tournament field along the way.
This initial projection is based purely on speculation and my own personal opinions. It will be fun to re-visit these choices once the actual state tournaments begin, just to see how many I got right (or wrong, because I'll definitely get several wrong).
CLASS 5A
District Champions
Lake City (19-1)
Boise (19-1)
Rigby (19-2)
Auto Bids
Middleton (18-3)
Rocky Mountain (15-5)
Owyhee (14-7)
Play-In Games
Eagle (14-7) over Madison (15-6)
Coeur d'Alene (14-5) over Timberline (12-8)
District 3 receives 4 auto bids to state, with two more teams earning the opportunity to advance to state via play-in games. There's a nucleus of five really good teams from the Southern Idaho Conference this year: Boise, Middleton, Rocky Mountain, Owyhee and Eagle. Both Lake City and Coeur d'Alene are really talented teams up north, and fortunately for the Inland Empire League, their second place finisher will play the sixth place team from District 3. That means one of the five SIC teams in that nucleus will instead play the second place team from District 5-6 in the east, which should be Madison.
CLASS 4A
District Champions
Sandpoint (16-3)
Ridgevue (13-6)
Minico (13-6)
Pocatello (15-5)
Shelley (20-0)
Auto Bids
Bishop Kelly (15-4)
Jerome (16-3)
Skyline (15-6)
Play-In Games
None
Class 4A is pretty straightforward. There are no half bids to decipher, as District 1-2 and District 5 each get one bid, while every other district receives two. All eight teams included here have been head and shoulders above the rest of the class this year. Blackfoot (13-8) also has a great chance to advance out of District 6, as the Broncos have pushed both Shelley and Skyline in tight losses recently.
CLASS 3A
District Champions
Timberlake (13-3)
Weiser (15-5)
Filer (11-10)
Snake River (15-6)
Teton (20-1)
Auto Bids
McCall-Donnelly (11-6)
Play-In Games
Parma (15-6) over Kimberly (11-10)
Sugar-Salem (15-6) over American Falls (8-12)
District 3 is the only conference to receive two assured bids to state, and for good reason. The Snake River Valley Conference's top four teams have all beaten each other this year, and any combination of Fruitland, McCall-Donnelly, Parma and Weiser could advance to state. For my projections, I'm actually guessing that Fruitland (currently in first place) won't make it. The Grizzlies have won several games by the thinnest of margins, and feature less tournament experience than the other three teams. Kimberly recently ended Filer's 40-game winning streak over fellow Sawtooth Central Idaho Conference teams, but I anticipate that it's just a blip for the Wildcats. Teton has only lost once this year, but it came to Sugar-Salem. Either way, I like both teams to move on, as the second place team from District 6 will play the second place team from District 5.
CLASS 2A
District Champions
Grangeville (16-2)
Melba (15-5)
Declo (15-5)
Soda Springs (10-11)
North Fremont (15-6)
Auto Bids
Cole Valley Christian (15-6)
Play-In Games
New Plymouth (8-12) over Kellogg (11-8)
Bear Lake (17-3) over Firth (11-10)
Like Class 3A, only District 3 receives more than one auto bid to state. Melba and Cole Valley Christian are top-three teams statewide (along with Grangeville), so sending those two on is a no-brainer. But taking New Plymouth as well? A third team from the Western Idaho Conference?
Call it a gut feeling. The Pilgrims are better than their 8-12 overall record, as they had to play both Melba and Cole Valley Christian twice, along with Class 3A Fruitland and Homedale, Class 4A Burley and Caldwell, and Class 5A Meridian. Kellogg has had a nice season, but I'm just not sure that the Central Idaho League was enough of a test this year outside of Grangeville. Other teams to keep an eye on include Malad (17-4) and Ririe (7-14) from the east.
CLASS 1AD1
District Champions
Prairie (14-6)
Liberty Charter (10-4)
Oakley (14-5)
Grace (16-3)
Auto Bids
Lapwai (15-5)
Rimrock (11-7)
Raft River (15-3)
Play-In Games
Murtaugh (15-3) over Lakeside (5-7)
It should be noted here that the District 1 champion will have to navigate a Play-In game against the third place team from District 4. Hence, while Lakeside is technically a district champ in my projections, I have them falling to a really good Murtaugh team in the Play-In Game. Any of Raft River, Oakley and Murtaugh could win District 4, and I expect all three to be at state in some form or fashion. Other sleepers include Wallace (10-5) from District 1, Kamiah (14-6), Troy (11-7) and Genesee (12-9) from District 2, Notus (11-6) from District 3, and Valley (11-7) from District 4.
CLASS 1AD2
District Champions
Kendrick (17-2)
Council (8-5)
Richfield (13-4)
Mackay (14-6)
Auto Bids
Deary (10-6)
Tri-Valley (12-4)
Leadore (16-3)
Play-In Games
Rockland (11-9) over Clark Fork (4-8)
Like Class 1AD1, the District 1 champ has to play a third place finisher (this time, from District 5-6). I've got Clark Fork's Wampus Cats winning the District 1 title, but falling to Rockland in a Play-In Game. The really intriguing battles will occur in Districts 3 and 4. In the Long Pin Conference, Council, Salmon River and Tri-Valley have all beaten each other during the season, with the Savages just nipping the Titans by two in overtime. And in District 4's Sawtooth Conference, both Richfield (13-4) and Dietrich (16-3) are top three teams in the state, but only one will get to move on. The two sides split during the regular season, and I'm giving the slight edge to Richfield here because they defend so well. But it wouldn't shock me to see the Blue Devils punch their ticket to state for the second year in a row, either.
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