 rjonas, Thu, February 19th, 2009 For all of you up in arms over the fact that Albany Academy is the No. 2 seed out of the Suburban Council for the Section II, Class AA boys basketball playoffs, may I present to you a team that was more disrespected by the Section II committee than the Cadets. I am referring to the undefeated Holy Names girls basketball team -- your No. 3 seed in Class A. Yeah, you read right. An undefeated team seeded No. 3. Not No. 1. Not No. 2. No. 3, people. So, who did the Section II girls basketball committee think deserved to be seeded higher than Holy Names? No. 1 Mohonasen and No. 2 Averill Park. To be honest, I can understand why Mohonasen received the top seed. The Mighty Warriors won the South Division title with a 14-2 record and finished with an impressive 18-2 overall mark. Included on Mohonasen's resume are victories over North Division champion Shenendehowa, Niskayuna, Colonie and Bethlehem -- the top four seeds from the Suburban Council in the Class AA playoffs. It's Averill Park's seed that I have trouble digesting. How does a team that finished third in the South Division with a 9-7 record and had a 13-7 overall mark rate better than an undefeated Holy Names team? I know the Warriors had two one-point losses against Mohonasen and a two-point overtime loss to Shen, which shows that they are competitive against top-notch teams -- but they still lost those games. Holy Names didn't lose a single game. What hurt Holy Names was being part of the Colonial Council. While the Colonial is a competitive league, it features mostly Class B and Class C teams, while the Suburban Council is mostly a Class AA league with only three Class A teams. It's hard for Holy Names to shake the perception that it plays a weaker league schedule than Mohonasen and Averill Park, but the level of competition was still strong with the likes of Lansingburgh, Voorheesville and Watervliet. And remember: Holy Names beat all of those teams twice. Frankly, being seeded third won't bother Holy Names that much. It should still easily reach the semifinals, where it will likely face Averill Park. And while I know Katie Duma is a special player, she won't be able to single-handedly lead Averill Park past a complete team like Holy Names. If all goes well, we should see a Holy Names-Mohonasen final, which ought to be a hotly-contested game. I won't even make a prediction because both teams have well-balanced attacks that should provide an entertaining game. Still, it's the principle of seeding Holy Names third that bothers me. The Section II committee should have at least given Holy Names the No. 2 seed over Averill Park. Anything less is a crime. CATEGORY: Basketball
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