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Much will seem familiar when the ASAA/First National Bank March Madness state basketball tournaments begin Monday, but there will be a different twist.
Twelve of the 16 teams involved in championship games last year return, including six tournament champions. The teams meeting to battle it out for the state 4A title at Sullivan Arena are nearly identical to the squads that have filled recent tournaments. But while the teams may remain the same, the times they are a changing. The glory days for the large schools will be early in the week while the small schools get their chance to shine on the weekend. The 4A and 3A tournaments begin Monday with the championship games Wednesday. The 1A and 2A tournaments will run in the "prime" slot with championship games Saturday. Since 2006, all four state tournaments have been held during the same week at Sullivan Arena, but this will be the first year that the larger schools play first. Depending on tickets sold and revenue, this could be a one-time thing or the start of a yearly rotation. Last year the small schools earned gate receipts of $69,572 for the games played at the start of the week and the large schools earned $101,335 during the Thursday through Saturday contests. "It'll definitely be a different atmosphere," Dimond girls coach Jim Young said. "I think it would be tougher for local students to come out and support their schools since we will be playing a lot of games during school hours." Barrow, Chevak, Colony, Cook Inlet, Cordova, Dimond, Fort Yukon, Glennallen, Juneau-Douglas, Kivalina, Mt. Edgecumbe, Ninilchik, Nome, Point Hope, Russian Mission, Wasilla and West are all represented by both their boys and girls teams. The Glennallen and Mt. Edgecumbe boys and girls both meet in the first round. 4A tourney The 4A girls tournament features seven teams that competed in the Dimond Lady Lynx Prep Shootout in early February and the 4A boys bracket consists of the same eight teams as last year. The Juneau girls, who won the Dimond tournament, are the top seed after knocking off Ketchikan in their regional tournament. Chugiak, the defending champion, matches No. 2 seed Dimond in a marquee opening-round match. The Lynx edged the Mustangs 40-30 and 38-33 in their two regular-season meetings. The West boys, despite being upset by Bartlett in the Cook Inlet Conference tournament, are the top seed at state. Last year the Eagles were shocked by eighth-seeded Wasilla in the opening round. This year they'll look to avoid a similar fate against a Lathrop squad that upset North Pole in the Mid Alaska title game to make a return trip to state. Dimond, the defending state champion, meets Soldotna in the first round. The Lynx beat the Stars 55-52 in overtime for last year's title. 3A tourney The Anchorage Christian girls' run toward a potential third consecutive state title begins with an opening-round contest against Nome. ACS has played in the last three title games, defeating Mt. Edgecumbe 38-24 to win it all last year. Despite suspending five starters for the remainder of the season because of violations committed on an early-season trip, the Barrow girls made the tournament with a 39-35 win over Bethel in the Region I championship game. There will be a new champion in the 3A boys tournament as Hutchison failed to make it back to defend its title. Nome, which lost to Hutchison in last year's title game, opens tournament play against Cordova. Heritage Christian, which narrowly averted disaster in the semifinals of the Southcentral tournament when it beat ACS 46-45, opens tournament play with a night game against Barrow. 2A tourney Yakutat, going for its third straight girls title, opens against Northway. Ninilchik, which has played in 11 of the last 14 championship games, is a potential opponent in the second round. Defending boys champion Point Hope faces Ninilchik in the opening round. 1A tourney Defending girls champion Alak opens with a first-round contest against Shaktoolik. The 1A boys will have a new champ as Kalskag failed to make the state tournament. Newhalen, which was runner-up to Kalskag last year, meets Russian Mission in its tournament opener.