Spartans Season Ends with Loss to Kashmere

Scarborough fell 71-57 to Kashmere in a play-in game at the Pavilion Friday night.  The win sends Kashmere to the post-season as District 22-4A's fourth representative.  The Spartans end their season with a 13#-18 record(#one win was over Brenham's JV team).

Proud of our team. whole lot of circumstances that made this a challenging year and they handled each one like champs. True life lessons

— Martin Wall (@bballmwall) February 20, 2016

Scarborough vs. Kashmere, Friday for "All The Marbles"

Scarborough and Kashmere face off Friday night at 6 pm at the Pavilion with a spot in the post-season on the line.  The two clubs each finished the regular season with a 5 and 7 district record.

During the regular season, Kashmere knocked off Scarborough 66-58 on January 12.  The Spartans defeated Kashmere 61-54 on February 6.  Both games took place at the Pavilion.

The winner of Friday night's game advances to take on Navasota in the first round of the play-offs next week.  Navasota is the District 21-4A champion.

District 22-4A's First Round Play-off Opponents

The times and dates have yet to be determined, but here are the match-ups for District 22-4A in the first round of the play-offs:

Wheatley vs. Bellville
Sterling vs. La Grange
Furr vs. Caldwell
Kashmere vs. Navasota

Spartans Will be Playing AT LEAST One More Game

The word from the Pavilion is that the Spartans knocked off Washington early Wednesday evening, 74-47. With the victory, Scarborough has extended their season at least one more game.  Scarborough, 5-7 in district play, faces a tie-breaker game with Kashmere for District 22-4A's fourth and final play-off spot.

The Kashmere/Scarborough game is scheduled for 6 pm Friday at the Pavilion.

Kashmere and the Spartans split their two-game season series. Scarborough has won five of their last seven games after starting the district schedule with five straight losses.

It Comes Down to This for the Spartans

The Spartans head into their season finale Wednesday night against Washington needing a win to force a tie-breaker game for District 22-4A's fourth play-off spot.  If Scarborough beats Washington on Wednesday at 4:30 at the Pavilion, they will play Kashmere in a tie-breaker contest for the final play-off spot from the district. Presumably, this game would take place on Friday or Saturday.

Kashmere and Scarborough split their season series. The winner of the tie-breaker would face Navasota in the first round of the play-offs.

If Scarborough loses to Washington on Wednesday, Kashmere claims the fourth spot and a match-up with Navasota.

Spartans Keep Hope Alive With Win

Scarborough knocked off Worthing 36-34 on Saturday to keep their play-off hopes alive.  The win moved the Spartans to 4-7 in district play with one game remaining.

Wheatley and Sterling have already clinched the district's top two play-off spots.  Heading into the final two days of the season, four teams still have a chance at the final two spaces.  Here are the standings and schedule.

Furr- 6-6  (plays Sterling on Tuesday)- Furr beat Sterling
Kashmere- 5-7 (season completed)
Scarborough-4-7 (plays Washington on Wednesday)
Worthing-4-8 (plays Wheatley on Monday)- Worthing lost to Wheatley

A win for the Spartans on Wednesday will land them in a tie-breaker game (or two) with a play-off berth on the line.

If the Spartans win on Wednesday(they are eliminated with a loss), here are the possibilities:

Wheatley beats Worthing
Furr beats Sterling

Result:
Spartans and Kashmere tied for 4th

Potential Play-off Matchups for District 22-4A

The boys' basketball play-offs begin next week.  Whether or not Scarborough will be involved is still to be decided.  However, the play-off picture from 21-4A, the district that matches up with District 22-4A, is almost fully developed.

Here is the information on District 21-4A thanks to Jeff Wick of the Fayette County Record.

Navasota- 9-0
Caldwell- 6-3
La Grange- 4-5
Bellville- 4-5
Smithville- 3-6
Giddings- 1-8

With Smithville scheduled to play Navasota in this week's season finale, it is likely that La Grange and Bellville will take the third and fourth spots in the post-season. As a reminder, those same four teams made the play-offs last year from District 21-4A(Navasota #1, LaGrange #2, Caldwell #3, and Bellville #4). Scarborough knocked off LaGrange in the first round in 2014-15.

If Scarborough makes the play-offs, they are headed to a showdown with Navasota or Caldwell.  The Spartans lost to Navasota, 57-54 on December 3, 2015.

District 22-4A Standings

Wheatley-12-0 #Clinched district title
Sterling-8-4 ^Clinched play-off berth(2nd Place)
Furr-6-6 $Clinched play-off berth(3rd Place)
Kashmere-5-7
Scarborough-4-7
Worthing- 4-8
Washington-2-9

Remaining Schedule

February 17
Scarborough vs. Washington

Two Games Remain for the Spartans

Entering the weekend, the Scarborough Spartans have two games left in their regular season, and with a 3-7 district record they still have a chance to sneak into the post-season.

If the Spartans win their final two games over Worthing (Saturday) and Washington (Tuesday), the worst-case scenario is that they will tie for third or fourth place.  My understanding is that such a finish will result in a play-in play-off next weekend in which Scarborough will participate.

In a best-case scenario, the Spartans could win the fourth place spot outright in the regular season.

What doe the best-case scenario involve?
The following results on Saturday and Tuesday result in Scarborough winning fourth place outright without a tiebreaker:

Scarborough beats Worthing and Washington
Kashmere beats Furr on Saturday
Wheatley beats Worthing on Monday
Sterling beats Furr on Tuesday

Who Will the Spartans Play Next Year?

The Spartans football and basketball teams will be facing several new opponents in district play next school year.  The UIL recently announced the district realignments for 2016-17 and Scarborough will feel the effects of the alterations in their schedule.

Starting in the fall, Scarborough will compete in Division 1 District 11-4A in football and District 22-4A in basketball.

The teams in both those districts will be the same:
Kashmere
North Forest
Scarborough
Washington
Wheatley
Worthing
Yates

 A few quick thoughts about the new district:

With the Spartans now competing in a seven-team district in football, they won't be going to the play-offs unless they win a few district games.

The basketball teams adds Yates and North Forest to its schedule twice a season.  Yikes!

Spartans Win Third Game in Last Four

Scarborough knocked off Kashmere, 61-54 on Saturday night.  The win was the third in four games for the Spartans.  They improved to 3-6 in district play with three games remaining.

I am in the process of tracking down the current standings to see how close Scarborough is to the top four in the district and a play-off spot.

Spartans' remaining schedule:

Wednesday, February 10, vs. Sterling (6:00, Barnett)
Saturday, February 13, vs. Worthing (1:00, Butler)
Tuesday, February 16, vs. Washington (6:00, Pavilion)