Area tourney begins next week

The basketball regular season comes to a close this week, and area tournaments will begin next week. All host sites have been determined, but dates, times and matchups were not official at press time.

Most girls area games are played on different nights than boys area games. However, if both the boys and girls teams from the same school are hosting, then games can be played on the same night – which will be the case for Phil Campbell and Red Bay.

The two teams that make the finals of the area tournament will advance to sub-regional games. The area winner will host a sub-regional game, while the area runner-up will travel to a sub-regional game.

By virtue of Phil Campbell being the top seed in in a three-team area in both the boys and girls brackets, the Bobcats have automatic bids to the subregion.

The two local teams that seem to be poised to make post-season noise are the top-ranked team in Class 2A boys, Red Bay, and the sixth-ranked team in Class 3A girls, Phil Campbell. Both teams have legitimate shots at making it to the Final Four in Birmingham.

Here are the areas involving Franklin County schools and the host site for boys and girls area tournaments:

Class 5A, Area 14 consists of Russellville, Hamilton, Lawrence County and West Point. West Point will host the girls area tournament, and Hamilton will host the boys area tournament.

Class 3A, Area 14 consists of Phil Campbell, Colbert Heights and East Lawrence. Phil Campbell will host both the girls and boys area tournaments.

Class 2A, Area 13 consists of Red Bay, Addison, Sulligent and Winston County. Red Bay will host both the girls and boys area tournaments.

Class 2A, Area 16 consists of Tharptown, Colbert County, Hatton, Sheffield and Tanner. Hatton will host the girls area tournament, while Tanner will host the boys area tournament.

Class 1A, Area 12 consists of Belgreen, Vina, Brilliant, Hackleburg and Phillips. Phillips will host the girls area tournament, while Belgreen will host the boys area tournament.