The Kentucky 2A state championships are this weekend. What exactly are they?
The Class 2A Kentucky basketball state championships are scheduled for this weekend in Owensboro.
At this point you’re probably asking yourself “What the heck is a Class 2A Kentucky basketball state championship?” Unless you’re a hardcore high school basketball fan, it could have easily missed your radar.
The 2A championships are the brainchild of Union County Athletic Director Jeremy Tackett and Webster County AD Matt Bell who, following a 2nd Region meeting last year, decided to gauge interest in a midseason event to highlight mid-sized schools — those whose enrollment is 1,000 or less but greater than the cutoff for the All “A” Classic, which invites the smallest 125 or so schools to take part in an unofficial “small-school” state tournament. Tackett shot off an email to the 66 schools that fit that profile and received positive feedback from about 30 of them in two days.
A total of 43 schools participated in this year’s four Class 2A sectional tournaments, the champion and runner-up of which advanced to the state event. Each sectional was comprised of four regions: Regions 1-4 in section one, Regions 5-8 in section two, Regions 9-12 in section three and Regions 13-16 in section four. The winner and runner-up of each sectional advanced to the 2A state tournament, which will be played over three days with both finals scheduled for Sunday.
At least 20 of the eligible schools who declined to participate in the inaugural tournament were in the eastern half of the state.
Lexington Catholic — the only other eligible 11th Region team aside from Western Hills, which did participate — sat out the first year and has not yet agreed to come on board in year two. The 2A organizers plan to add baseball and softball next year— with final events also in Owensboro — and Brandon Salsman, the boys’ basketball coach at LexCath, isn’t sure if all four programs at the school would be willing to sign up for the necessary scheduling and travel hurdles.
Mercer County was the only one of seven eligible 12th Region teams to participate this season, and only two of the nine eligible teams in the 16th Region — Morgan County and Rowan County — opted in. Five schools from the 14th Region were eligible but none participated this season.
Tackett did not expect total participation out of the gate. Some of the schools who declined didn’t want to worry about revamping their schedules — the 2A event became a reality well after most schools set their 2018-19 schedules — while others were turned off by skepticism about the group’s intentions (“Everybody gets a trophy! This will lead to classes in basketball!”). Some programs worried that they would end up playing a miniature region tournament a month before the legitimate one.
In some instances this season, the sectionals were cross-bracketed in a way to prevent teams from playing opponents in their same district and region until the sectional finals, but there were other pairings — like the Bourbon County boys’ first-round matchup with Harrison County — that could conceivably happen in the first round of the actual region tournament come February.
How much that matters can vary from program to program, but Tackett recognizes it as a valid concern.
“I think what we’ve got to do in those other regions is make sure those schools know and coaches and ADs know that we don’t want it to be a regional tournament midseason,” Tackett said. “We want you to cross-bracket and then play. That’s why we’ve set it up into four sections with four regions, so you don’t have to play those district and region opponents unless maybe you made it to the finals.”
As far as classification and trophies are concerned …
“It’s a Christmas tournament-type deal for schools who fit a certain enrollment,” Tackett said. “Just like the All ‘A,’ it gives those schools an opportunity to compete for a so-called state title with schools of their size, get that experience, and then go back and focus on a KHSAA Sweet Sixteen. That’s the ultimate goal for every high school athlete in the state of Kentucky, is to play for a Sweet Sixteen championship. … Have I heard the people saying, ‘Ah, they’re trying to give everybody a trophy?’ Absolutely. Two teams are gonna leave this tournament with a trophy. We’re not giving everyone a trophy. That’s not the mentality. It’s an opportunity to put something on the line in January and improve your team, get ’em a little more battle-tested and to be able to say, ‘Hey, I’m the best team in that criteria this year.’ We’re not pushing for classification. We’re not saying ‘Let’s classify the entire state.’”
The level of competition has been solid and feedback from teams involved in the sectional tournaments has been positive. It remains to be seen what the crowd support will be like at the state level, but Tackett is optimistic about this year’s event and the future of the 2A championships as people grow more familiar with them and their goals.
“There’s definitely some improvements we can make and we’d like to get some more teams on board next year, and I think we will, but I think for the first year it’s been a success,” Tackett said.
Kentucky 2A state championships
At Owensboro Sportscenter
Friday’s boys’ quarterfinals: Glasgow vs. Morgan Co.; John Hardin vs. Scott; Bourbon Co. vs. Christian Academy-Louisville; Knox Central vs. Webster Co. (Semifinals Saturday and finals Sunday)
Friday’s girls’ quarterfinals: Scott vs. Adair Co.; Rowan Co. vs. Glasgow; Mercer Co. vs. Christian Academy-Louisville; Webster Co. vs. Bell Co. (Semifinals Saturday and finals Sunday)