Beat the Press wraps up season with boys district title game selections
Corey Allen and Ypsianti impressed on Monday night and are my pick to win the Skyline district.
Daniel Brenner | AnnArbor.com
We’ve reached the end of Beat the Press picks. And while I’m sad that picks are over until football season, the timing may be good for me. I’m trending downward.
I missed two of my five picks last week, and got beaten by seven Beat the Press participants.
Three out of five isn’t awful. But the disconcerting part is that the picks I had the most confidence in, I missed. Tops on the list was the Huron district, where the River Rats had been bowling through the local competition, and faced a Dexter team in the district finals it had beaten twice before. So I was surprised as most people were to see the Dreadnaughts pull that one off.
I also missed the Manchester district, where the Lady Dutch topped Arbor Prep at home. It was a tough pick: two teams with no common opponents and different styles of play. But I liked my Arbor Prep pick, and was surprised by Manchester’s margin of victory.
So I’m entering the final week a bit rattled, which is not a good state of mind for playoff picks.
We’re wrapping up by picking the five boys districts that have a Washtenaw County semifinalist. I’m submitting my picks Wednesday afternoon, before the semifinals are played. You’ll be reading this and making your picks after the semifinals and before the first 6 p.m. tipoff Friday.
So there’s a chance one or more of my picks will be eliminated by then. If that’s the case, consider it a going away present.
I’m fortunate I didn’t have to make these picks Monday morning. Because if so, I may have gone with Pioneer in the Skyline district. The Pioneers, you may have heard, were no match in Monday’s quarterfinals for an Ypsilanti team that looked far improved from when I saw them play midseason.
The Phoenix looked good enough to be a district champion, so they’ll be my pick for that district. But I’m done feeling good about my picks.
Beat the Press Winners
The following people “Beat the Press” last week: Beth Starkey, Audra Kokmeyer, Chris Westfall, Matt Durr, Lisa Rathfon, Jason Idalski, Matthew Seidl.
People who have “Beat the Press” so far: 77
Kyle’s overall record: 35-10 (.778)
Kyle Austin covers sports for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kyleaustin@annarbor.com or 734-623-2535. Follow him on Twitter @KAustin_AA.
Comments
dugster
Sat, Mar 9, 2013 : 3:08 a.m.
Hoopsfan Milan 67 Temperance 60. Temperance may not be a one man team but there entire team couldn't beat Milan.
hoopsfan
Thu, Mar 7, 2013 : 6:07 p.m.
Lincoln put up a great effort against Bedford. I thought they were going to pull the upset. I think Bedford is wide awake now and will take it to the Big Reds. Especially after their players and coach called Bedford a one man team. You'll see tomorrow night that they are not a one man team. Jackson will be the best player on the floor, but there are plenty of good players on the team.
dugster
Thu, Mar 7, 2013 : 4:34 p.m.
Kyle you said "On the other side of the bracket side sits 19-1 Milan. The Big Reds built up an impressive record in the Huron League, but now move up from mostly Class B and C competition to a tough Class A district. How they respond to that is always a question mark at this time of year, and their semifinal matchup against Saline should be closer than records might indicate." I hope you don't think 22 pts was close. Maybe they are as good as their 19-1 record indicated. You can't blame the Huron League factor for this 22pt win
Pete Cunningham
Thu, Mar 7, 2013 : 5:26 p.m.
Word on the street is Big Reds looked impressive against Saline. Should be a battle in Bedford for the league title.
Kyle Austin
Thu, Mar 7, 2013 : 3:24 p.m.
Sorry folks, no freebies this week, although Skyline and Lincoln did make me a bit nervous