We are only two weeks from determining who will be heading to the state basketball playoffs.
The six local schools will be spread among five different substate locations. Here are the potential matchups for all of the teams.
CLASS 4A-II
Iola will be heading to Parsons for their four-team substate along with Anderson County, Burlington and Parsons.
On the boys’ side of the bracket, the top seed will almost certainly be Burlington.
The No. 7 team in the state looks to heavy favorite to advance to Emporia, the site of the state tournament.
The Wildcats are led by high-scoring guard Brogan Nordstedt and currently have a 12-4 record this season including a pair of wins over both Anderson County and Iola.
The Bulldogs currently are 4-12 this year, but are coming off their best win of the season when they defeated Iola on Friday.
Anderson County is almost a certainty to be the four-seed and face Burlington in the semifinals.
The two-three matchup will likely pit Parsons against Iola.
The Vikings currently hold an 8-8 record and will likely end up as the No. 3 seed.
Parsons has shared three common opponents with the Mustangs.
The Vikings split its games with Labette County while Iola defeated them. The Vikings have also split with Independence, but Iola lost to them. Both squads have lost to Chanute.
On the girls’ side, Burlington is again the heavy favorite with an 11-5 record and the No. 7 ranking in the state.
The Wildcats have swept both Iola and Anderson County this season.
Iola will likely be the No. 2 seed and may be matched up with Parsons in the semifinals.
Parsons is 4-13 this year with losses against Chanute and Girard, the only opponents they have shared with the Fillies.
Iola also lost to Girard, but has a win over Chanute.
Anderson County could beat the Vikings in the race for the three-seed and that would appear to be a good thing for Iola, who has a pair of victories over Anderson County already.
The Bulldogs are currently 4-12 this season.
CLASS 3A
The Humboldt Cubs will travel to Erie for their substate.
On the boys’ side, the Cubs will likely be the favorites going in. Humboldt is currently the No. 3 ranked team in the state and holds a 16-1 record.
The rest of the field at Erie includes: Riverton, Jayhawk-Linn, Galena, Cherokee-Southeast, Northeast Arma, Cherryvale and Galena.
The only other ranked team in that field in Galena, who is 14-1 and ranked No. 6 in the state.
The host-school Erie has saddled Humboldt with its only loss this season and carries a 13-4 record currently.
Jayhawk-Linn will also be a team to watch as they have excelled with their Three Rivers League schedule and have challenged themselves with playing several bigger schools outside of league play.
Forward Brandon Gray will be a matchup problem with his size and athleticism for whomever the Jayhawks face.
Cherryvale will be a middle-seeded team at substate, but has shown they can play with the top teams with a win over Erie this season and they played within 10 points of Humboldt last week.
Senior Garrett Vigil is their leading scorer averaging 13.8 points per game.
Cherokee-Southeast, Riverton and Northeast-Arma will likely be seeded sixth though eighth.
In the girls’ bracket, Humboldt will be a favorite with its 15-2 record, but with no ranked teams in the substate, it should be a very competitive field.
Erie is only 9-7 this season, but has delivered Humboldt one of its losses this season.
Galena is 10-6 this season and will likely be one of the top-three seeds. They are a possible finals matchup for the Cubs.
Northeast Arma is 8-9 this year and may be set for a four-five matchup with Three Rivers League rival Jayhawk-Linn in the four-five matchup for the right to face Humboldt.
The Jayhawks beat Northeast Arma earlier this year, but Northeast Arma features one of the top scorers in Southeast Kansas with senior Kelsea Choate averaging 17.5 points per game.
Riverton, Cherryvale and Cherokee-Southeast will round out the rest of the bracket.
CLASS 2A
Yates Center and Marmaton Valley will share a substate location at Uniontown this season.
Pittsburg-St. Marys Colgan will enter the tournament as the favorites on the boys’ side with Yates Center representing a possible upset pick.
Colgan is 11-4 this season and the No. 5 ranked team in the state.
The host-school Uniontown should also find its way to the semifinals.
The Eagles only lost by five to Yates Center earlier this season and have proven an ability to matchup with anyone.
West Elk also enters the tournament with a winning record at 12-5 with an 11-point loss to Yates Center earlier this season.
Oswego, Pleasanton, Madison-Hamilton and Marmaton Valley will round out the field with Oswego likely being the fifth seed and Pleasanton the sixth seed.
Marmaton Valley appears to have the inside track on Madison-Hamilton for the seventh seed.
On the girls’ side of the bracket, no team cracks the state rankings which should provide for an interesting battle for the state spot.
Colgan currently has a 10-5 record and would appear to be the leading contender for a trip to Manhattan.
West Elk has put together an 11-6 season so far and also looks like a contender to make the final and earn its way to state.
Oswego is 11-5 so fair this season and will battle for one of the top seeds in these final weeks of the regular season.
Senior Madison Sheddrick leads the Indians with 11.7 points per game.
Uniontown will hope their home-court advantage will lead to some upsets. The Eagles currently are 9-8.
Madison-Hamilton is also above .500 with an 8-7 record.
Pleasanton looks to be in line for the sixth seed with a 7-8 record.
Yates Center will be the seventh seed and Marmaton Valley will likely be the eighth seed.
CLASS 1A-I
Southern Coffey County will have a difficult road as its teams will travel to Olpe for its substate.
The boys’ bracket features the fifth-, sixth- and tenth-ranked teams in Kansas.
No. 5 Olpe is 12-5 this season, but two of their loses are to Southern Coffey County, No. 10 Burlingame and No. 6 Lebo.
Lebo is 13-3 this season.
The wildcard is Burlingame. Burlingame isn’t ranked as highly as the other two squads in the bracket, but they have wins over both and will likely be the top seed on the strength of a 15-2 record.
Southern Coffey County and St. Paul will likely do battle in the four-five game of the six-team tournament with Chetopa rounding out the field as the sixth seed.
The girls’ side would appear to be more clear cut.
Olpe is the No. 2 ranked team in the state with a 16-1 record and the host-school would seem to be a very heavy favorite as the only ranked team in the substate. Their only loss this season is to Waverly, the No. 1 ranked team in Class 1A-II.
Other than games against Waverly, no team has played Olpe closer than 28 points.
St. Paul is looming though, they have losses to Frontenac and Columbus, but are 13-2 overall and haven’t lost to a Class 1A-II squad.
Lebo is the frontrunner for the three seed with a 9-6 record.
The Chetopa Hornets are right on the Wolves heels at 8-8 and are led by a pair of double-digit scorers with junior Meagan Wright scoring 12.9 points per game and senior Cambri Conrad at 12.7.
Southern Coffey County will likely face the Hornets in the first round.
Burlingame is 4-13 this season and is in line for the sixth seed.
CLASS 1A-I
Crest will be going to Waverly for its substate.
On the boys’ side Hartford is the clear favorite. The Jaguars are 13-4 and ranked as the No. 2 team in the state.
Crest will likely be the No. 2 seed and face three-seeded Waverly in one semifinal.
The host Bulldogs are 5-11 this season.
Marais des Cygnes Valley and Altoona-Midway have combined for one win this season — coming when the Trojans beat the Jets. They will face off again for the right to play Hartford in the other semifinal.
The girls’ side of the bracket features the No. 1 ranked team in the state. Waverly currently ins 15-1 and has two seniors averaging over 16 points per game with Bailey Massoth and Payton Meador.
Hartford is 9-8 this season and led by junior Morgan Bolen and her 15.3 points per game average. They will be the two seed and face Crest in the semifinals.
Marais des Cygnes Valley and Altonna Midway will be the four-five matchup.
