Monday Mailbag: postseason and more

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

This week’s Monday Mailbag features questions about girls tournament blowouts, Lincolnview’s chances in the tournament, league expansion and the Colts trading for Carson Wentz, plus a comment about Van Wert basketball.

Q: What’s with all the lopsided girls basketball tournament scores? 66-6? 67-8? How is that even possible? Name withheld upon request

A: This has been going on for years and it some ways it used to be worse.

The sectional semifinal round tends to feature some big mismatches, with the No. 1 or No. 2 seed facing one of the bottom seeds. In many cases, the two teams are on the opposite end of the talent spectrum, hence the eye-popping margins.

Once in a while you’ll see similar results in the sectional championship games, but it seems to happen with less frequency.

As I said, it sometimes used to be worse. You’d see scores like 101-13 or 97-6, but the continuous clock rule has cut down on some of that. In tournament basketball, the clock continues to roll when a team has a margin of 35 points or more in the second half. It’s similar to the so-called mercy rule in football.

Q: In your mind, what are Lincolnview’s chances of getting to the Division IV district tournament? Name withheld upon request

A: I kind of like Lincolnview’s chances to get there.

I’m not saying it’ll be easy. The Lancers will need to get by Patrick Henry on Tuesday night but if they come ready to play they should be fine. Barring an upset by Continental, the next opponent would be Kalida, a team Lincolnview faced on December 23.

The Wildcats won that game 52-49 but I remember it felt like Lincolnview did everything but win that night. Kalida plays great defense but I believe it’s going to come down to rebounding. If the Lancers can hold their own on the boards, I think you’ll see them playing at Elida next week.

C: I’d like to echo last week’s shout out to the Van Wert boys basketball team. What an amazing turnaround! Name withheld upon request

A: It really has been amazing.

This team was 1-9 and 0-4 in the Western Buckeye League, then won 10 of the remaining 11 regular season games to finish 11-10 (5-4 WBL). Kudos to the kids and the coaches for sticking with it and getting the job done.

Tournament time is here and Saturday’s game against Defiance should be very interesting. The Bulldogs will see a very different Cougar team compared to the one they played on January 12. Defiance jumped out to a big early lead in that one and held on to win 53-46.

Q: Have you heard any more about the NLL’s plans to expand? I’m wondering what kind of effect it will have on area teams. Name withheld upon request

A: Nothing new yet, but I expect that to change relatively soon.

The Northern Lakes League wants to expand into two divisions and from what I’ve heard it will affect the Three Rivers Athletic Conference more than anyone else.

I’ve heard that there’s some interest with a Western Buckeye League school, but we’ll see how that pans out, if at all.

Conference or league expansion usually creates a ripple effect so it’ll be interesting to see how this all plays out.

Q: I’m a Colts fan and I’m wondering what you think of the trade for Carson Wentz? To me it seems like the team wasted high draft picks on a completely overrated quarterback. Name withheld upon request

A: If he pans out, it’ll be well worth the two draft picks – a third rounder this year and a first or second round selection next year, depending on Wentz’s playing time during the 2021 season.

Obviously the Colts are hoping they get the 2017 version of Wentz when he threw for 33 touchdowns and seven interceptions or 2019 Wentz (4,029 yards passing, 27 touchdowns, seven interceptions).

Yes, it’s a sizable risk, but in some ways it makes more sense than last year’s signing of Phillip Rivers. If Wentz can return to form he has some good years ahead of him while Rivers was at the tail end of his career.

If you have a comment or question for the next Monday Mailbag, please email it to sports@thevwindependent.com.