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The region-champion Bobcats will host Swansea tonight, a team they easily handled in a dual tournament earlier this season. Swansea does not appear in SCMAT.com's poll, which ranks the top 20 teams in each class. Bluffton is ranked second.
Hilton Head High continues its playoffs with a trip to Airport, arguably the Lower State's third-place team, which is ranked 13th in Class 3-A. The Seahawks remain at No. 6.
If the Seahawks and Bobcats both win tonight, as expected, they'll meet in the Lower State championship match on Wednesday, a match Bluffton would host thanks to its head-to-head victory at Hilton Head High two weeks ago.
That matchup started to take better shape Saturday, as many Bobcats and Seahawks faced off in the 14 weight classes.
"It was a science lab in here," Bluffton coach John Hollman said. "You mix all the solutions and do your experiments. Then you take the results and adapt the solutions for the next one."
Some of those solutions took on a different color Saturday. For starters, Bluffton's lone state champion in program history, Tyler Rosenlieb, dropped from 160 to 152 pounds for Saturday's individual tournament, locking him into that weight class for the remainder of individual competition. Rosenlieb wrestled at 171 pounds for the team's first meeting against Hilton Head High -- and still may gain weight for Wednesday's potential matchup.
SOMETHING HAD TO GIVE
Conventional wisdom says it's tough to beat a good team multiple times in the same season, and the degree of difficulty goes up exponentially when that strong opponent is your archrival.
So Hilton Head Christian Academy boys basketball coach Mike Colella couldn't help but wonder if his team was due for a loss when the Eagles took a six-game series winning streak dating back to Feb. 15, 2008, into Tuesday's game at Hilton Head Prep.
"The law of averages against a Rich Basirico-coached team with the talent they have says you're not going to beat them every time," said Colella, whose team suffered a 51-50 overtime loss on Dominic DiGenova's winning shot at the buzzer. "I hate to lose, but I can't imagine trying to win an eighth game in a row against a team that good in the state tournament."
The Eagles and Dolphins are among several schools expected to contend for a wide-open SCISAA Class 3-A title when the state tournament begins Feb. 19.
BA GIRLS IN PLAYOFFS AFTER ALL
Beaufort Academy girls basketball coach Jay Gardner was certain his team's playoff hopes died with last Tuesday's loss to St. Andrew's. Turns out, the top four teams from the region get in, not just the top three.
The Eagles are going to the SCISAA playoffs after all.
"That was a little bit of a surprise to us," Gardner said. "Even though we've lost a little momentum toward the end of the season, making the playoffs is something all the girls are very excited about. We're looking forward to our role as underdogs."
Beaufort Academy will face First Baptist in the first round tonight.
EAGLES SLIP UP
Beaufort Academy fell in Friday's game against Bible Baptist -- several times actually. Friday's heavy rain uncovered several leaks in the roof of the Bible Baptist gymnasium, causing several Beaufort Academy players to slip and fall in the first quarter.
Two players had to temporarily leave the game after their tumbles.
Bible Baptist coach Kenny Conroy wanted to finish the game with towels on the floor, but Gardner wasn't game.
"I was like 'Kenny, I'm not going to play a game with towels on the floor,'<2008>" Gardner said. "I talked him into having a janitor stand by. Every time there was a dead ball, he ran out with a mop and would dry it UP."
JUNGBLUT OUT
Thomas Heyward's girls basketball team snapped a three-game losing streak on Friday night with a win over Porter-Gaud. The Rebels pulled out the victoryout top defender Brielle Jungblut, who dislocated her shoulder in last Tuesday's loss to Pinewood Prep.
"That's a tough loss for us," Thomas Heyward coach Bob Layman said.
The freshman guard is expected back for Thursday's game against Ashley Hall, meaning she will miss Tuesday's game against SCISAA powerhouse Hilton Head Prep.
"That's going to be a tough game," Layman said.
YOUNG BOBCATS GAIN EXPERIENCE
With a trio of players absent from Bluffton High School's lineup on Friday night against North Charleston, Bobcats boys basketball coach Brett Macy elected to get some of the team's younger players more involved in the rotation.
Sophomore Mike Grant benefited most and scored five points, including a 3-pointer. Grant was moved up from the JV team, whose season ended last week. Because the JV team played only a 14-game schedule, each player has two games of eligibility remaining, allowing Macy to dress them for a pair of varsity games.
"We didn't mean to do that, but I'm going to do it again next year now that I've seen it," Macy said. "We'll get young guys up late in the year. Even if they never play, at least they experience the atmosphere. And it gets them hungry next year."
Some will experience the toughest atmosphere the Bobcats will see all season with a trip to Hilton Head High scheduled for Friday night.
CROSS-ISLAND RIVALRY WITH A TWIST
Any time Hilton Head Christian and Hilton Head Prep meet on the basketball court, it's bound to be entertaining, and that goes for Saturday's faculty game at Hilton Head Prep's Fraser Field House, which will benefit Relay for Life.
Faculty members from the two schools will square off at 7 p.m. Saturday at Prep; admission is free, but the schools will be in competition to see which can gather the most donations at the door. Hilton Head Prep will provide concessions, and Hilton Head Christian's Zonta and Key clubs will sell cupcakes.
