Can you believe it? We are just three short weeks – two for our 4A teams – away from the postseason. I’ve written it a couple of times, but this season has flown by too quickly.
With just a few games left in the regular season, let’s see where our area teams stand in the playoff hunt, shall we?
The known
I think it’s safe to say Hattiesburg and Lumberton will be in the playoffs once again this season, as the Tigers have a perfect 4-0 record in Region 4-5A and the Panthers are 3-0 in Region 4-1A. Sure, there’s still a path for Hattiesburg to miss out entirely, albeit a less than 1 percent chance, but Lumberton earned at least a fourth seed after beating Sacred Heart last week. Of course, it would take a huge collapse by Lumberton to drop to fourth, but there’s a chance.
These two teams are locked into a battle for the district title, and both regions have other teams that are undefeated as well. If Hattiesburg can take down Picayune Friday night on the road, I would feel very confident the Tigers could end the season 11-0 overall and 7-0 in the region to claim the top seed in the 5A playoffs.
Lumberton has two huge region contests left against Resurrection (3-1) Friday and Stringer (3-0) the following week. Those two games will go a long way on whether Lumberton falls to the third or fourth seeds, or win its second straight district title.
The most likely
Petal and Purvis are the two teams I think will be in the postseason, but both have a little work left to do to earn the berth. The Panthers are sitting at 3-1 in Region 3-6A, which is one of the toughest regions, and they’ve already played the three of the better teams, too. The Tornadoes are 2-1 in Region 7-4A, and while a playoff berth is all but certain now, they still need to beat either Poplarville or Forrest County AHS.
The only way Purvis won’t make the playoffs is if Sumrall beats both FCAHS and Greene County the final two weeks, and Purvis loses to Poplarville and FCAHS.
Petal plays its last home game this week against Meridian before finishing with road games to George County and Terry. If the Panthers can win two or three games, the playoffs are a lock. Maybe just one win clinches it, too.
In danger
I can’t believe I’m including Oak Grove in this list, but the Warriors fell to Terry last week to really put their playoff chances in jeopardy. Oak Grove is set to play Brandon and Pearl on the road these next two weeks, and it finishes the season at home against Jim Hill, so it’s reasonable to think it’ll get at least one more win. Now, if Oak Grove can beat either, or both, Brandon and Pearl, it can leap frog some teams in the standings, because the Warriors are on the outside looking in right now.
Sumrall can make the playoffs if it can beat FCAHS this week and hope Purvis can do the same the next week. The Bobcats are in the exact same situation as they were last year at this time of the season. All they need to do is win, something they couldn’t do last season in the final two games.
Unfortunately for Sacred Heart, I think its playoff hopes are gone. Sure, it can win the final three games to jump a few teams, but most of the teams the Crusaders need to jump have already beaten them and own the tiebreaker.
Time is running out, but there’s still some time left.
MAIS playoffs
PCS finds itself in a situation it didn’t have to think about much last season, and that was finding a way to move up in the playoff seedings. After losses to Jackson Prep, Parklane and Jackson Academy, and a win over Oak Forest, the Bobcats have to beat MRA in two weeks to have any chance of a higher seed. I have no doubt Joey Hawkins and his bunch will be ready for that game, though.
