Imagine you are Kay Bogle at breakfast in the Bogle house tomorrow morning. While it's uncertain which Bogle might not want to eat, it's safe to say that basketball might not be the main topic of conversation in the sports-minded household.
Either her husband, Terry, the Glen Burnie boys basketball coach, or son, Brian, a guard for Old Mill, is going to be suffering.
Those of you who have played or coached sports know that the day after a tough loss can be agony. Many feel it more the day after than immediately, and tomorrow likely will be such a day for one of the Bogles.
Terry's Gophers will meet Brian's Patriots tonight at Glen Burnie. The winner will advance to Monday's Class 4A East Region playoffs, while the loser has to buy a ticket.
The boys six-team region playoffs are set for Monday, Wednesday and Friday, while the girls will play Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The top two seeds draw first-round byes and will play host to second-round games, with No. 3 playing host to No. 6 and No. 5 at No. 4 the first night.
Glen Burnie hopes to get a chance to defend its region title, but neighborhood rival Old Mill stands in the way as the two 11-10 teams battle for the final playoff berth. Old Mill took the first game between the two.
No. 6 Arundel (18-3) needs a win at Severna Park (4-17) to clinch the top seeding ,while 13th-ranked Annapolis (17-4) must defeat Chesapeake (2-19) at home and hope for a Calvert (15-6) upset of Northern (19-2) of Calvert County to take the No. 2 seed.
If not, Annapolis will be third by virtue of the tiebreaking process. Annapolis and Northern would finish with 132 points each, but Northern's percentage of 1.000 (6-0) would be better than the .933 by Annapolis (14-1) against 4A schools.
Calvert has clinched fourth, with North County fifth or sixth. North County (12-9) is in the playoffs for the first time in its five-year existence, and a victory at Meade (9-12) tonight would give the Knights the fifth seed no matter what happens in the Glen Burnie-Old Mill game.
I'm sure that if North County defeats Meade, coach Brad Wilson will get a gracious handshake from Mustangs coach Butch Young. Wilson was an assistant to Young for a decade before taking the North County position, and the two have remained close friends.
North County has 74 playoff points while Old Mill starts tonight with 70 and Glen Burnie with 66. If North County loses and Old Mill wins, Old Mill will have the fifth seed.
If Glen Burnie wins and North County loses, the Gophers and Knights would be tied for the final spot with 74 points and a coin flip will decide the seedings.
The teams split during the season, which is the first step in the tiebreaking system, and are even in the next three criteria, taking it all to a coin flip.
Three other teams are headed for the boys playoffs: 3A Broadneck and 2A schools South River and Southern. No. 8 Broadneck (19-2) has clinched the top seed in the 3A East Region, while South River (14-7) is expected to be third in the 2A East and Southern (7-12), which is at Northeast (3-18) tonight, is sixth.
That means Southern at South River Monday night, and the Seahawks hope to go in with a 2A-3A co-championship under their belts.
Broadneck (3-0 league) will visit South River (2-1) tonight to decide the county 2A-3A league title.
Fuming Fowler
Severn School boys basketball coach Wayne Fowler was hot after Wednesday's 88-75 loss to Laurel Baptist (33-4). Add the Admirals' coach to the growing list of coaches ejected because of the new rule that says two technicals and you're out of the game..
Fowler received his first "T" with 2:18 left in the game and his No. 14 Admirals (19-8) trailing, 79-63. The second came with 32 seconds left and Fowler had to leave his own gym.
"That's the worse officiating we've had in two years," said Fowler. "I didn't show him up, but he sure showed me up.
"Laurel Baptist beat us, no question about it, but it was the attitude of the guy that upsets me.
"Our officials and he throws me out of my gym. Good officials don't do that when it's that late in a game unless you show him up.
"I can't believe that [officials scheduler Steve] Malone sent us two JV officials to play a quality team like Laurel Baptist."
Fowler confirmed a rumor making the rounds in Severna Park that Winston Johnson, a 6-foot-5 native of the Bahamas, recently had paid a visit to Severn.
"Winston was here, but we are not sure if he will be accepted," said Fowler. "If he is, he will be a pretty good high school player."