Bunker Hill girls, Maiden boys now own
top seeds for Dec. 27-29 event at CVCC
By CHRIS HOBBS
HobbsDailyReport.com
HICKORY – The pairings for the Dick’s Sports Goods Classic high school basketball tournaments – girls and boys — have been finalized after they were each revamped and the boys’ bracket corrected after it was redone.
GIRLS’ TOP SEED: BUNKER HILL
The tournament is scheduled on Dec. 27-29 with all games at Catawba Valley Community College’s Tarlton Complex.
The Hickory Metro Sports Commission (HMSC) helps coordinate the tournament.
On Thursday afternoon, a second set of pairings were released and they had Fred T. Foard’s boys as the No. 4 seed and Alexander Central was seeded No. 7. Those seeds have been switched.
BOYS’ TOP SEED: MAIDEN
Seeds for the girls’ tournament provided in the second release remained did not change.
“After some discussion, the selection committee reconvened and adjusted the (seeding) formula to include three factors – won-loss, winning percentage and points per game were all included,” tournament co-director Ernie Masche said in an e-mail shortly after 11 p.m. on Thursday night. “The (boys’) bracket had some significant changes whereas the (girls’) bracket nearly stayed the same with some minor changes.
“We sent out an updated release later in the day on Dec. 6 with the adjusted seedings except one mistake was made in the (boys’) bracket.”
Some head coaches reached out to Masche and tournament officials to complain on Thursday after the first release of pairings had the Foard boys (1-3) as the top seed ahead of two undefeated teams – Maiden and Hickory – and Newton-Conover (3-1) as a No. 6 seed, one spot behind Bunker Hill (3-4).
In the initial pairings, both girls and boys, Masche indicated the tournament committee had developed pairings based on points per game averages via MaxPreps because some teams had played as few as one game (through Tuesday) and others had played as many as seven.
Through the years, the holiday tournament in Catawba County has used various methods of seeding, ranging from best record/winning percentage by classification to best record/winning percentage overall.
The opening games on Dec. 27, a Thursday, are now:
Girls (with records through Thursday night): No. 7 Alexander Central (0-3) vs. No. 2 St. Stephens (2-1), 10 a.m.; No. 6 South Caldwell (0-2) vs. No. 3 Hickory (1-1), 1 p.m.; No. 5 Newton-Conover (1-3) vs. No. 4 Fred T. Foard (2-2); No. 8 Maiden (0-2) vs. No. 1 Bunker Hill (5-2).
Boys (with records through Thursday night): No. 7 Fred T. Foard (1-3) vs. No. 2 Hickory (2-0), 11:30 a.m.; No. 6 St. Stephens (1-2) vs. No. 3 Newton-Conover (3-1), 2:30 p.m.; No. 5 Bunker Hill (3-4) vs. No. 4 Alexander Central (1-2). 5:30 p.m.; No. 8 South Caldwell (0-2) vs. No. 1 Maiden (3-0), 8:30 p.m.
DICK’S SPORTING GOODS CLASSIC
(Dec. 27-29, all games at Tarlton Complex, Catawba Valley Community College)
GIRLS
Thursday, Dec. 27
Game 1: No. 7 Alexander Central vs. No. 2 St. Stephens, 10 a.m.
Game 2: No. 6 S. Caldwell vs. No. 3 Hickory, 1 p.m.
Game 3: No. 5 Newton-Conover vs. No. 4 Fred T. Foard, 4 p.m.
Game 4: No. 8 Maiden vs. No. 1 Bunker Hill, 7 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 28
Game 5: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 10 a.m.
Game 6: Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 1 p.m.
Game 7: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, semifinal, 4 p.m.
Game 8: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, semifinal, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 29
Game 9: Loser Game 5 vs. Loser Game 6, seventh place, 10 a.m.
Game 10: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, fifth place, 1 p.m.
Game 11: Loser Game 7 vs. Loser Game 8, third place, 4 p.m.
Game 12: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8, championship, 7 p.m.
BOYS
Thursday, Dec. 27
Game 1: No. 7 Fred T. Foard vs. No. 2 Hickory, 11:30 a.m.
Game 2: No. 6 St. Stephens vs. No. 3 Newton-Conover, 2:30 p.m.
Game 3: No. 5 Bunker Hill vs. No. 4 Alexander Central, 5:30 p.m.
Game 4: No. 8 S. Caldwell vs. No. 1 Maiden, 8:30 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 28
Game 5: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 11:30 a.m.
Game 6: Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 2:30 p.m.
Game 7: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, semifinal, 5:30 p.m.
Game 8: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, semifinal, 8:30 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 29
Game 9: Loser Game 5 vs. Loser Game 6, seventh place, 11:30 a.m.
Game 10: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, fifth place, 2:30 p.m.
Game 11: Loser Game 7 vs. Loser Game 8, third place, 5:30 p.m.
Game 12: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8, championship, 8:30 p.m.