No. 6 Salpointe and No. 8 Catalina Foothills played to a 0-0 tie Tuesday night to make for an interesting dynamic in the 4A Kino Region race heading into the state playoffs.

Salpointe is now 2-0-2 in region play while Catalina Foothills is 3-0-1. The other tie by the Lancers came against No. 3 Sahuaro and the Cougars are 3-0-1 in region play. The Lancers have been eliminated from the region race…maybe.

Sahuaro will visit Catalina Foothills on Thursday to decide the region. If the Falcons and Cougars tie, then Sahuaro will get the automatic playoff berth due to a better 4A Conference record over Catalina Foothills but there will be a 3-way tie for the region title. This can all be avoided if Sahuaro or Catalina Foothills wins outright.

 

According to the AIA Bylaws:

If teams are tied on region/section win percentage, the tie breaker is as follows, and will be noted on the standings pages as such:

 

1.Head to Head in Region/Section Games

2.Conference/Division Win Percentage

3.Overall Win Percentage

4.Overall Power Ranking

5.Coin Flip if simply to break a tie for seeding

6.Mini playoff if to go into the tournament

 

The Lancers won the last three 4A championships in a row, including a 2-1 overtime win over Catalina Foothills last year. The Falcons have eight state championships with the last one coming in 2013. Sahuaro made it to the state final in 2009.

The 3A Conference Play-In Tournament is scheduled for this Friday and it will feature teams ranked No. 9 to No. 24. The eight winners will advance to the state tournament with the first round slated for Feb. 11 for the girls and Feb. 12 for the boys.

The 4A, 5A and 6A Conference Play-In Tournaments are scheduled for Feb. 13. A quick reminder that region standings in 5A and 6A have no bearing on playoff status.