We preview the two major Class A Conference/Holiday Tournaments. We dig into results from the past 10 years. The Metro Conference which takes place at Ralston Arena and the Heartland Athletic Conference which takes place this year at Lincoln Southwest.
Metro Conference Tournament
The seeds have been released for the two big conference tournaments that take place after Christmas. The Metro tournament now has 18 teams with the addition of Gretna (2019) and Elkhorn South (2018). Every team is guaranteed two games with the winners having the opportunity to play four (five if a play in team continues to advance. Two play in games take place on Friday the 27th, with the 8 first round games beginning on Monday December 30th. The top four seeds are (1) Millard South, (2) Papillion-LaVista, (3) Omaha Westside, and (4) Millard North.
Does winning your conference tournament correlate to success at state?
Below you will find the results of the past 10 winners of both conference tournaments, and how they finished at the state tournament two months later.
Past Metro Winners
2018/19- Papillion-LaVista- State Tournament
2018- Omaha Westside- State Champion
2017- Millard South- State Runner-up
2016- Millard West- State Runner-up
2015- Omaha Benson- State Tournament
2014- Bellevue West- State Runner-up
2013- Bellevue West- State Runner-up
2012- Omaha Central- State Champion
2011- Bellevue East- State Champion
2010- Bellevue West- State Champion
By the Numbers
4- 4/10 Metro Tournament Winners have also won the class A State Championship.
4- 4/10 Metro Tournament Winners have finished as the state runner-up.
2- 2/10 Metro Tournament Winners have made the state tournament, but lost in the 1st round.
2- Twice did the teams who played in the metro championship game meet in the Class A State Championship game. 2018 Omaha Westside vs Millard South, 2010 Bellevue West vs Millard West. Both years yielded the same result with the metro winner also winning the state championship.
0- Number of times the metro tourney runner-up won the state tournament.
Metro Seedings
#1 Millard South
#2 Papillion-LaVista
#3 Omaha Westside
#4 Millard North
#5 Omaha Burke
#6 Millard West
#7 Omaha Northwest
#8 Omaha Marian
#9 Bellevue West
#10 Omaha Benson
#11 Omaha Central
#12 Papillion-LaVista South
#13 Elkhorn South
#14 Gretna
#15 Bellevue East
#16 Omaha North
#17 Omaha Bryan
#18 Omaha South
Part 2
Read part 2 at: https://jrallstar.com/2019/12/metro-hac-conference-tournaments-part-2/ which discusses the Heartland Athletic Conference tournament, history of the event and what do the results of both tournaments mean for this year?
Photo Credit: @PapioGirlsBball Twitter Account
