6A playoff race muddled

All of the playoff scenarios for regions involving Wiregrass Alabama High School Athletic Association teams crystallized last week, except for one.

Class 6A, Region 3 with Dothan and Enterprise remains unclear for the region’s final two playoff spots. The Tigers and Wildcats along with Opelika finished tied at 4-3 in region play.

The tie won’t be broken until the results of this week’s games.

The first 12 tiebreakers in the AHSAA tiebreaking rules for three-way ties all end in a tie or were not applicable.

It will likely come down to tiebreaker n — the team whose defeated opponents have the most victories. This tiebreaker involves all games, including region contests.

Heading into play this week, Opelika (6-3) has defeated Sidney Lanier (two wins), Russell County (two wins), Enterprise (six wins), Vigor (six wins), Northview (three wins), and Smiths Station (two wins).

Dothan (6-3) has beaten Eufaula (five wins), Opelika (six wins), Smiths Station (two wins), Carroll (zero wins), Russell County (two wins) and Northview (three wins).

Enterprise (6-3) has wins over Alma Bryant (three wins), Eufaula (five wins), Northview (three wins), Smiths Station (two wins), Dothan (six wins) and Russell County (two wins).

At present, Opelika’s six defeated opponents have a total of 21 wins, Enterprise’s defeated opponents also have 21 wins and Dothan’s defeated foes have 18 victories.

Both Dothan and Enterprise can add to their totals with wins in games this week. Dothan hosts R.E. Lee, which has four wins, and Enterprise entertains Jeff Davis, which has won one game.

All three teams can also add to their totals if previous defeated foes win this week.

All, in theory, could also possibly add zero to the total if none of their previous defeated foes win this week.

Games involving Northview, Russell County and Smiths Station are moot since all three will gain the same thing from those teams.

Outside of that, Opelika can add between one to three to its total, Dothan one to six and Enterprise one to four.
Opelika and Dothan can finish between 18-24 and Enterprise between 18-25.

Opelika is seeking wins by Sidney Lanier (against Carver of Montgomery), Enterprise (versus Jeff Davis) and Vigor (against Blount).

Dothan hopes for a win over Lee plus wins by Eufaula (against Russell County) and Carroll (over Abbeville).

Enterprise seeks a win over Jeff Davis plus wins by Alma Bryant (over Foley), Eufaula (over Russell County) and Dothan (over Lee).

As a result of the possibilities, any one of the three teams could win the tiebreaker. It could even end in a tie.

What is clear is scenarios of what happens if a certain team wins the tiebreaker.

Should Enterprise finish ahead in the tiebreaker, it will be the region’s No. 3 team. Dothan and Opelika then go back to the head-to-head tiebreaker, and Dothan wins the fourth and final spot off its come-from-behind 45-41 win over Opelika.

If Dothan finishes ahead in the tiebreaker, it takes third and Opelika finishes fourth with its win over Enterprise.

If Opelika finishes ahead, it takes third and Enterprise fourth as the Wildcats beat Dothan.

If all three teams finish with the same amount, then the tiebreaker will not break it.

The next tiebreaker listed — tiebreaker o — involves the team with the most victories if all teams involved in the tie play an equal number of games. This tiebreaker is useless as Opelika plays only nine games and Enterprise and Dothan 10.

The next tiebreaker — tiebreaker p — involves the team with the most victories. At present, all three are tied with six wins, but Dothan and/or Enterprise could break out to seven wins based on outcomes this week.

If all three remain tied at six wins then the teams will have to go to the dreaded tiebreaker q — a flip of a coin.

Down to wire in AISA: Wiregrass teams Ashford Academy and Dixie Academy are in a battle for the final Class A, Region 1 spot.

The two and Chambers are tied with 3-4 region marks.

Ashford plays at Chambers Friday, and Dixie Academy plays at South Montgomery County Academy.

If Chambers beats Ashford, it is the No. 4 team regardless of how Dixie does. Chambers already beat Dixie this year.

If Ashford beats Chambers and Dixie losses to SMCA, Ashford and Chambers finish tied, but Ashford wins the head-to-head tiebreaker.

However, if Ashford wins and Dixie wins, Dixie is No. 4 since it beat Ashford earlier this year.

Thursday night lights: With it being the last week of the regular season and with the National Peanut Festival opening Friday, there are plenty of Thursday night games on tap.

In all, there are nine games involving Wiregrass teams set for Thursday.

They are Charles Henderson at Northview, Rehobeth at Ashford, Red Level at Straughn, Dale County at Cottonwood, Headland at Houston County, Slocomb at Geneva County, Providence Christian at Wicksburg and G.W. Long at Ariton in the AHSAA ranks.
Lakeside School hosts Glenwood in AISA play.