ALL Men’s College Basketball Tournament Results

Here is a look at ALL the Men’s NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament results so far:

MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT RESULTS

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ALL Women’s College Basketball Tournament Results

Here are all of the Women’s Conference Tournament results so far:

WOMEN’S CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT RESULTS

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Paul VI High School – 4th State Championship in a row!

Paul VI High School VISGBA State Champions

The PVI Lady Panthers Varsity Girls Basketball team had an incredible journey this past week playing five games in five days!

It started with a win Wednesday at home against St. Gertrude (Richmond) in the Virginia Independent Schools State Tournament Quarter Finals. Thursday they went to Holy Cross in the Quarter finals of the WCAC tournament and upset them at the buzzer – Devan Fitzsimmons hit a 15 footer with 3 seconds remaining! Then off to Richmond for the VIS Semis/Final. Friday night they beat a pesky Bishop Sullivan team by 24 to move to the final (Blair Koniszewski hit 7 three pointers!!) against Flint Hill. Suffice it to say that they were starting to get tired. But they overcame a very tough FH team in 2 OT’s to capture their 4^thconsecutive State Title!

All tournament team honors for Blair, Maya Singleton, and Jess Long. Jess long was named MVP of the tournament! Mr. Menke (PVI retiring AD) was there for the game and proudly posed for pictures with the team, the seniors, and just about anybody that wanted. He was really proud to have his last basketball championship of his 42 year career!! He will surely be missed at PVI!!

Coach Allen said – ”we are like a driver going down the highway with the fuel light on– trying to go as far as we can before we run out of gas! Well, they finally ran out. In the semi-final of the WCAC tournament at American University.  Elizabeth Seton brought the season to an end. The PVI girls played hard the whole game but it was obvious from the beginning that Elizabeth Seton had the freshest legs. They struggled and lost a very emotional game. It was the last game for Blair and Melissa Westphal our seniors and they really wanted to go out with a win.

The whole team should be very proud – they won 23 games (school record) – 12 conference games (school record) – won the VISGBA state championship, made it to the semi-final of the WCAC for only the 2^nd time in 8 years – won 12 out of their last 14 games and one of the most impressive accomplishments in PVI history – Blair Koniszewski made 103 three pointers this season to lead all players in the Metro area (boys and girls)!!!  WOW! What a year.

The coaching staff and followers of the Lady Panthers are VERY Proud of their dedication and hard work this season as it will be a season that will never be forgotten.   I was able to be present for several practice, workouts, team meetings – this coaching staff pushes and challenges these young ladies.  The team responded, showed their trust and commitment and really came together to put it all together for a strong finish.  Perhaps, if they did not have the worst winter weather in recent history and the schedule wasn’t so jammed up at the end (5 games in 5 days… the NBA doesn’t even to that to millionaires, let alone high school kids) they might have kept going.  I didn’t doubt them.

Congratulations to each of the players, their families and the coaching staff on a great season!

Popularity: 2%

Virginia retires Monica Wright’s jersey after win over Va. Tech

The banner uncoiled from the rafters of John Paul Jones Arena, forever retiring Virginia senior Monica Wright’s No. 22 jersey. Most of the 6,264 fans that attended the Cavaliers’ 55-46 win over rival Virginia Tech on Sunday stayed long after the buzzer sounded, celebrating the Woodbridge native who has cemented her spot as one of the finest players in Virginia women’s basketball history.

Monica Wright

Wright played her final home game on Sunday and was the lone senior honored on a day when the Cavaliers (21-8, 9-5 ACC) clinched the No. 3 seed in this week’s conference tournament.

The post-game ceremony included a video presentation with words of praise and appreciation from her teammates.  Wright spoke, thanking God, each member of the coaching staff, her teammates, her parents and Virginia’s fans.

“I tried not to look at the coaches, because they were all tearing up,” Wright said. “I didn’t want to cry.

“I was just in my head going through all the people I wanted to thank. Just trying to make sure my speech was intact.”

The afternoon was more fulfilling because of the victory. Wright broke Virginia’s scoring record in a Jan. 11 loss to Maryland, creating a bittersweet evening. Sunday’s ceremony would not have been as heartwarming for everyone involved had the Cavaliers lost to the Hokies (15-14, 4-10).

Wright started the game sluggish as a result of end-of-season exhaustion and received intravenous therapy at halftime to bolster her for the second half. She finished with 27 points and 10 rebounds, while the rest of her teammates shot only 25.8 percent from the field and together barely outscored the Cavaliers’ star.

“Let’s have a big party and welcome her to the WNBA and level out that playing field,” Virginia Tech Coach Beth Dunkenberger said.

Before Wright departs, there remains a burden to overcome. Virginia has not reached the regionals of the NCAA tournament since 2000 after becoming a regular during the 1990s.

As Ryan said before the season started, it helps that Virginia has Wright. She has received all-ACC honors three times during her career, and will soon add a fourth. It continues a career that started at Forest Park High, where she led the Bruins in scoring in each of her four seasons, was a three-time All-Met and was the 2006 All-Met Player of the Year.

Ryan emphasized that Wright’s legacy will be entrenched as much for her off-the-court persona, where she has remained a model citizen during her time at Virginia. Teammates spoke about Wright’s example in the classroom and her willingness to stop and talk with kids and fulfill autograph requests.

Young girls filled John Paul Jones Arena on Sunday with shirts featuring Wright’s No. 22. Those shirts will likely give way to a new crop of Virginia stars in coming seasons, but Wright is “honored” to know that her jersey was retired.

Virginia returns everyone next year, except Wright, the current crop of Freshman were the #3 ranked recruiting class in the country by Blue Star.

Popularity: 10%

Bracketology – Charlie Creme

Here’s Charlie’s latest projection through games as of Feb. 21.  Scroll over a team name for more analysis. Records reflect Division I competition only.

Automatic bids are in CAPS.

This is the absolute best time of the year for talking basketball with everyone.

Bids by Conference is going to make some people edgy…

• Big 12 (8)
• ACC (7)
• Big East (7)
• SEC (6)
• Big Ten (3)
• Atlantic 10 (3)
• Pac-10 (3)
• America East (2)
• Sun Belt (2)
• Colonial (2)

I love the ACC, was part of it for 4 years.  It is arguably one of the Top 2 Conferences in the country year after year… but, 7 bids is high!  I say 5.  UNC and Maryland are all questions and NC State is on the cusp.  Each of those teams are currently 5-7 or 6-6 in the ACC.  If you allow all of them in, how then do you say no to Wake Forest and maybe Boston College?  Both are either 5-7 or 6-6 and Wake Forest is a head of UNC and Maryland in the ACC standings.  don’t go to the RPI and Strength of Schedule… it’s all comparable.

Why not give the Atlantic 10, Colonial or Mountain West a 4th, 3rd or 2nd team in, respectively.   Maybe give one or two of the MAAC, MAC, America East or Missouri Valley and 2nd team in.

Everyone screams for more parity in Women’s Basketball.  You can’t have parity if the Top 5 Conferences hold 31 of the 64 spots in the NCAA tournament every year.  Those coaches will never be able to consistently convince (recruit) top prospects to play in conferences where only one team goes to the NCAA’s year in and year out.

We’ll see…

Popularity: 12%