The Section VI postseason begins tonight with a pair of first round games to get things going. JFK will host Gowanda, while Springville travels to Eden. As of right now, I haven't decided where I'll be tonight.
Several pre-quarterfinal games will be played on Wednesday, including a double-header at Bennett HS beginning at 6 pm. Grand Island plays at Hamburg, while Roy-Hart facing Emerson at Grabiartz look to be the most compelling of the games on the evening.
Friday night is when the action really kicks up, as quarterfinal 32 games will decide which teams move on to Buffalo State and JCC for the semifinals. Assuming things shake out the way I think they will before Friday, there are some great potential matchups on the way, and an upset or two certain to shake up the big picture before next week.
Most likely quarterfinal upsets
Class A1
(5) Hutch-Tech @ (4) Iroquois - The Chiefs scored a big win late in the season at then league-unbeaten ECIC II co-champ Williamsville East. The Engineers stumbled against Bennett in the same week.
Class B1
(5) East @ (4) Newfane - We knew there would be some quality quarterfinal games in the B1 bracket, and here's one of them. East battled through the large schools in the Yale Cup, and came away with a win over Riverside and gave McKinley a close game in February. They also have a distinct size advantage with Rashaan Brown and Tyree Tyson inside.
(6) Depew @ (3) Dunkirk - We couldn't have more opposite situations. Depew played in a large school league (ECIC III), scheduled Williamsville North (Class AA), and defeated St. Mary's in its tournament. Dunkirk has plowed through its competition not named Olean. The problem is, there really was no competition for the Marauders. Another lousy nonleague schedule, along with CCAA I being less than a meat grinder, and Dunkirk hasn't won a game by less than 15 all year.
Class B2
(5) Akron vs. (4) CSAT **at Kenmore West ** - Has anyone noticed how good these two teams have played in the last month? Both beat Wilson this month, Akron also topped Newfane. CSAT already owns two victories over Akron. However, Tigers head coach Justin Gerstung has shown the ability to come up with a great scheme and pull off a stunner in sectionals before...just ask Wilson.
(6) City Honors @ (3) Allegany-Limestone - Another case of a team playing well late in the season and picking up some good wins against quality opponents. The Centaurs beat I-Prep twice this year and also tripped up MST Seneca.
Class C2
(7) I-Prep @ (2) Maple Grove - The Red Dragons played some stiff competition to start the year, but haven't seen too many quality opponents recently, with the exception of Westfield and CG Finney. I-Prep had the benefit of meeting some quality opponents in the city, including a pair of epic battles with the #3 seed, MST Seneca.
Top 5 Quarterfinal Games
5. Class B1 - East @ Newfane
4. Class AA - North Tonawanda @ Frontier
3. Class AA - Williamsville North @ Kenmore West
2. Class C2 - I-Prep @ Maple Grove
1. Class B1 - Depew vs. Dunkirk **at Silver Creek**
Most likely to avance to Glens Falls
Olean (Class B) and OTC/MEC (Class C)
Biggest favorite to win its bracket
OTC/MEC in Class C1
Best Bracket stop-to-bottom
Class B1 & Class C2
Most exciting potential championship matchups
Class C2 - MST Seneca vs. Silver Creek
Class AA - Niagara Falls vs. Jamestown
Streaks & Stats heading into sectionals
- Olean has won 16 straight games and has no losses to any team from WNY
- OTC/MEC hasn't lost to a small school this season
- Maple Grove has won 15 straight games and has averaged 78.6 ppg over its last eight games
- Kenmore West has yet to lose a game in the calendar year and has won 15 straight.
- Frontier has won nine straight games
- McKinley's only losses this season were to Canisius and St. Joe's
-centercourt
I agree that Jamestown and Niagara Falls would be a great AA matchup. Although, Frontier looks like they are on a hot streak and might meet up with Jamestown again. After getting blown out by Jamestown earlier in the year, they beat Jamestown. Did anyone see that game and what was the big difference?
Posted by: Truth Be Told | Tuesday, February 21, 2012 at 04:35 PM
TML1000 was at that game.
Posted by: Patrick Moran | Tuesday, February 21, 2012 at 08:28 PM
I like to judge how good the brackets are by counting how many teams have a power rating of or over 3.000. Class C-2 has the most with 7, while Class AA and Class B-1 are second most with 6.
Overall, Class AA has 6, Class A has 7, Class B has 11, Class C has 10, and Class D has 3. Classes B and C are certainly very deep this year.
The interesting part for me in C-2 will be how the CCAA teams match up against the Yale Cup schools. For AA, it will be interesting to see if anyone upsets Jamestown or Niagara Falls before the final. It's definitely a possibility as evidenced by earlier season games. For B-1, it will be interesting to see if anyone can take down heavy favorite Olean.
Posted by: Andrew Webster | Tuesday, February 21, 2012 at 09:18 PM
Well...I didn't see the first J'town/Frontier game, but at the Frontier win, Frontier was able to control the boards and exploit J'town's lack of an interior presence. Also, Frontier got hot from range at the right time and Domzalski did a great job in spreading the floor when Frontier was in the half court and did not allow J-town to get out on the break or get easy looks. Basically, Frontier controlled the tempo, which is what they'll have to do again. They aren't going to win a game in the 80's or even 70's. They will have to keep it in the 50's range and make it a half court/gritty game.
The full court should be in J'town's favor should they meet.
Posted by: TML1000 | Tuesday, February 21, 2012 at 11:10 PM
Silver Creek Black Knights win the C2 bracket
Posted by: ryan | Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 04:16 PM
i think the City schools fare well at Buff State/JCC, with McKinley (A1 and overall A), Riverside(A2), City Honors(B2) and OTC winning their classes. The other winners will be NF (AA) and Olean (B1 and overall B). lamestown will lose prior to the AA final.
Canisius will win Manhattan Cup, they are the best in WNY, their big four will be enough.
Posted by: PJB | Saturday, February 25, 2012 at 09:20 PM
"Lamestown will lose prior to the final"
Bold prediction and clever re-naming.
Posted by: centercourt | Sunday, February 26, 2012 at 11:54 AM
A lot of bold predictions coming from Jamestown haters this year esp. the #1 hater himself TML. Back to Back sectional champions, when they lose in the playoffs to a team from WNY then you all can talk.
Posted by: DonJuan | Sunday, February 26, 2012 at 06:23 PM
I saw Jamestown earlier this year and while they're good they are definitely down a notch or two from the last few years, not to say that just might not be good enough.
Posted by: Sam | Sunday, February 26, 2012 at 08:18 PM