The three-way tie for third in class 3A, region 3 is as complicated as tiebreakers get, but no matter how it works out, the Southside Panthers appear to be locked into a playoff spot. As crazy as it sounds, Southside’s biggest rival, Selma, could actually play a part in helping the Panthers clinch the region’s No. 3 seed.

Southside, Central Coosa and Prattville Christian all tied with 3-3 records and all finished with 1-1 records against one another. To break the tie, the Alabama High School Athletic Association will likely have to go to tiebreaker “L”, which is determined by each team’s defeated non-region opponents.

In other words, that means the games Southside, Central Coosa and Prattville Christian played outside of their required region games will be used to break the tie. In Southside’s case, that means the Panthers’ wins over Selma, Keith and Central Hayneville are what count toward the tiebreaker.

Here’s how the tiebreaker will work out for each team:
SOUTHSIDE

Southside’s defeated non-region opponents have a total of six wins — Keith (5 wins), Selma (1 win) and Central Hayneville (1 win).  The Panthers are also guaranteed to pick up one more win toward the tiebreaker Friday because Keith and Central Hayneville play one another. Since one of those teams has to win that game, Southside’s defeated non-region opponents are guaranteed to have eight wins.

The Panthers game against Ellwood Christian Thursday is a non-region game, but won’t benefit Southside because the Eagles have zero wins on the year. Ellwood’s two wins were forfeited due to violating AHSAA rules.

While Southside can’t help its own cause, its biggest rival can help the Panthers. If Selma defeats Stanhope Elmore Thursday, it would mean Southside’s defeated non-region opponents would have nine wins, clinching the No. 3 seed and a playoff game against Montevallo for the Panthers.
CENTRAL COOSA

Central Coosa’s defeated non-region opponents have a total of four wins — Fayetteville (3 wins) and Thorsby (1 win). Coosa can help its own cause Friday by beating Childersburg (2-7), which would add two more victories toward the tiebreaker. That would put Coosa at six, but still two behind Southside.

Thorsby and Fayetteville can also help Coosa by winning their games. If Central Coosa (vs. Childersburg), Fayetteville (vs. B.B. Comer) and Thorsby (vs. Isabella) all win this week, Coosa will have eight wins toward the tiebreaker, the same as Southside. It appears Coosa needs exactly that scenario to play out to clinch a playoff berth.

Since their defeated non-region opponents would both have eight wins, Central Coosa would win the tiebreaker over Southside due to head to head. In that scenario, Central Coosa earns the No. 3 seed. To break the tie for the No. 4 seed, the tiebreaker would reset to head to head. Southside defeated Prattville Christian, so Southside would be the four seed.

 

PRATTVILLE CHRISTIAN

Prattville Christian’s defeated non-region opponents only have one win (Thorsby) and the most the school can get to is five, which won’t be enough to win the tiebreaker. Southside’s defeated non-region opponents are guaranteed to have eight.

It appears Prattville’s only chance to make the playoffs is for Southside to win the three-way tie. If Southside wins that tie, which remains the most likely scenario, Southside would earn the No. 3 seed and Prattville Christian would be the No. 4 seed, thanks to its head to head win over Central Coosa.