And Down The Stretch They Come
February 20, 2023 (Mid-America) –
In the Region 5 NTJCAC, #2 Ranger (8-2) is at #3 Weatherford (7-3) for an 8PM ET tip. Ranger bested the Coyotes 87-68 a month ago and look for the sweep and full control of the H2H tiebreaker. Ranger and McLennan are both 8-2 in conference play with four games left.
McLennan beat Ranger in their first meeting on Jan. 28, 66-52, and will meet up again in Ranger on Saturday, Feb 25. McLennan and Weatherford have split, winning on each other’ home court. McLennan, also 8-2 in conference, travel to Temple (4-6) for an 8:00 ET toss. Several teams still have a pulse, as the West title, and top four places for getting into the postseason tournament are still up for grabs.
Moving to the WJCAC in R5, the top four in the standings are in action tonight, against each other. #4 Midland (8-5) takes the short trip to Odessa for an 8:30 bout with the #1 Wranglers (11-1) in the OC Sports Center. In an equally exciting and important contest, #3 South Plains (9-3) ventures to Clarendon to try and move the Bulldogs (10-3) out of 2nd.
SPC beat Clarendon last month, 65-58, and after back to back losses to Odessa and Midland, the Texans have won four straight. Clarendon is currently the hottest thing going in the region right now. They lost b2b road games at the end of last month to South Plains and Howard, but since have reeled off six in a row including Odessa and Midland as victims.
In a key ACCC (AL) Region 22 battle in Key Hall, South Division members #1 Coastal Alabama – North (Monroeville) 16-3, and Chattahoochee Valley CC 13-6 meet up in Phenix City for an 8:30 start. CA-N is leading the South Division and CVCC is in 3rd behind Coastal Alabama – South (Bay Minette) at 14-5. CA-S has a split going with CVCC and owns a 90-82 victory over Monroeville in late January.
Down in the South Atlantic District (Region 8), Daytona State has claimed the Central Conference Championship and auto berth in the FCSAA State Tournament. Likewise, Southern Conference Champ Indian River State has their place reserved in Niceville. All other six slots are still up for grabs, which does include two At-Large bids.
Both Eastern Florida State (9-4) and Santa Fe (8-5) are duking it out for the 2nd spot in the Central Conference, and possible a wild card At-Large bid to the State Tournament as well. If the two teams have identical records, EFSC gets the nod for the auto berth at NWF.
The other auto bid from the Southern Conference in Region 8 is a three-way dog fight. Florida SouthWestern State (6-5) has a ½ game lead up on State College of Florida (5-5), and a full game cushion vs. Miami Dade College (5-6. Unfortunately, if it comes down to it, MDC has the TB advantage on FSW, and Florida SouthWestern will trump any tie with State College of Florida, having won 2 of the 3 games with them.
That makes tonight’s Miami Dade vs. State College of Florida contest HUGE! Whoever wins, gains the TB for conference positioning for 2nd place. That game is scheduled for 7 ET in Hal Chasey Gym, home of the Manatees.
In the Panhandle, Chipola (9-2) needs a win in their final game vs. #2 Tallahassee to take the title, but has to wait until Saturday, Feb 25 to do so. However, if Gulf Coast beats TCC in their other game this week, then Chipola clinches.
Tally and #4 Northwest Florida State are both 7-3 but NWF has the tie-breaker there. Chipola has the TB over NWF, but has a split decisions with Tally pending their meeting on the final day. Plenty to decide, but one way or another, it will be difficult from keeping all 3 from playing in Raider Arena for the District Championship.
