The District 6-AA hoops tournament is once again holding its first-round game at home sites this Thursday and Friday, but only the Tyner Rams elected to avoid playing on back-to-back days.'
The the semifinals starting at a dictated early time Saturday (1 p.m.), three of the four first-round winners will be playing two games in less than 24 hours. But the Rams, which earlier was declared the winner of tiebreakers in both the boys and girls brackets, opted to play tonight.
The No. 4 seed Tyner girls, who were in a three-way tie for fourth, will host the 5th-seeded Central girls at 6 p.m. That will be followed at 7:30 with a doozy of a first-round match-up between the Rams and dangerous Hixson, which despite being ranked only No. 7, lost by only a point to Brainerd last week.
All other first-round match-ups will be taking place Friday, with the most highly anticipated games being held at Brainerd, which was ineligible to compete in the playoffs last year. The Panthers, seeded third in both the boys and girls brackets, will host the Hixson girls at 6 and the East Ridge boys at 7:30. East Ridge defeated the Panthers once during the season and lost the rematch in double overtime.
No. 1 boys seed Howard will be hosting the 8th-seeded Red Bank boys Friday at 7:30 following the match-up between the No. 2 girls seed Lady Tigers and East Ridge at 6. The top-seeded East Hamilton girls, will host No. 8 seed Red Bank Friday at 6, followed by the East Hamilton boys, seeded fourth, hosting No. 5 Central at 7:30.
The tournament will shift to Hixson High Saturday for the remaining three days, with the semifinals beginning at 1:00 with the East Hamilton-Red Bank winner facing the Central-Tyner girls winners. The first boys semifinal follows at 2:45.
The consolation games will be played Monday beginning at 6, while the championship finals will take place Tuesday at the same time.
Admission each day will be $7 for all fans.
District 6-AA Tournament
Thursday
Central girls at Tyner, 6
Hixson boys at Tyner, 7:30
Friday
Red Bank girls at East Hamilton, 6
Hixson girls at Brainerd, 6
East Ridge girls at Howard, 6
Red Bank boys at Howard, 7:30
Central boys at East Hamilton, 7:30
East Ridge boys at Brainerd, 7:30
Saturday at Hixson High
Red Bank-East Hamilton girls winner vs. Central-Tyner winner, 1
Red Bank-Howard boys winner vs. East Hamilton-Central winner, 2:45
Hixson-Brainerd girls winner vs. East Ridge-Howard winner, 4:30
East Ridge-Brainerd boys winner vs. Tyner-Hixson winner, 6:15
Monday at Hixson High
Girls consolation final, 6
Boys consolation final, 7:45
Tuesday at Hixson High
Girls championship, 6
Boys championship, 7:45