Metro League playoffs begin Tuesday

While the road to the state basketball tournament is never easy, this year it is marginally less difficult for the Spartans.

A restructuring of the Kingco League resulted in three Metro League teams – rather than the customary two – getting first-round byes in the District 2 tournament, which begins on Tuesday, Feb. 24 and continues through Saturday, March 7. Even more important, District 2 has five state allotments rather than the usual four. A team could lose twice in the tournament and still qualify.

BHS girls

Metro League playoffs begin on Tuesday, with the BHS girls playing in the upper bracket. They will travel to Holy Names, while Franklin hosts Lakeside in the other game. A win would put the Spartans in Friday’s championship game; lose, and they play Thursday.

A victory in either game (or both) would give the Spartans a first-round bye in the district tournament. If the Spartans lose twice, they would host a loser-out, first-round game.

BHS boys

If the boys defeated Chief Sealth last night, they would face a playoff with Rainier Beach for the Sound Division championship (unless West Seattle defeated the Vikings last night). Win or lose, BHS would still be in the upper bracket and face the same scenario as the girls.

If the Spartans lost last night, Beach, Bainbridge and Chief Sealth would have identical 10-5 records.

But the Spartans would be become the league’s No. 6 seeded team by dint of a 3-3 division record, with the Seahawks and Vikings at 4-2. As No. 6, Bainbridge would host a lower bracket game on Tuesday, then play again either Thursday or Friday. No matter how the Spartans fare in this bracket, they will travel – most likely to a Kingco school – for a loser-out, first-round district tournament game.

Check BainbridgeReview.com for continuous updates on the status of both teams.

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