Great Northwest Basketball League (GNBL)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Special Instructions to Teams Attending the

7th Grade Girls 2024 League Championship Tournament

 

Sparta and St. Croix Central (Hammond), Wisconsin

 

The 7th grade League Championship Tournament will be played in two communities: 

• First Tier teams (32) will play all matches in Sparta.  Sparta will be using four buildings for this event, Sparta High School (four surfaces); Meadowview Middle School (two surfaces); Herrman Elementary (two surfaces); and Barney Community Center (two surfaces).  All of these sites are within two miles of each other in Sparta.
• Second Tier teams (12) will play all matches at St. Croix Central High School (three surfaces) in Hammond. 

 

General Information:  All coaches should read through this email for a detailed explanation of formatting and tie-breaker information, as well as general information.  The attached Rules are specific to the League Championship Tournament with changes for the LCT marked in red – please review these before the tournament.  The following points should be noted by all participant teams:

 

• Admissions.  Per League Rule B-7, the host will be allowed to charge $8 per adult and $3 per student (versus $5 per adult/$2 per child during the regular season) to help cover the added cost of running this event.  All admission fees are retained by the host school(s).  Each admitted person will be issued a wristband that they must display when entering and re-entering each venue.  Players in uniform or with a jersey/shirt in their possession will be admitted free of charge. 

 

Each team will be provided with two coach wristbands at the admission table of the venue where that team plays its first match.  Coaches will need to display their wristband when re-entering each venue.

 

• Concessions.  All hosts will be providing full concessions at all venues.  Please support the efforts of all the host schools to provide concessions for the teams.  Host communities retain all concession profits.  Sparta and St. Croix Central should be commended for stepping forward and agreeing to host this event.  Coaches, please make sure all parents and players are aware of this rule:  No coolers or outside food are allowed at any of the LCT venues except for beverages consumed by players during matches. 

 

• Number of Matches.  As provided for in League Rule B-7, all teams attending the LCT are guaranteed five matches (some teams will play six). 

 

• Rosters.  At regular season meets, multiple teams from the same community are allowed to move players back and forth between their rosters throughout the day to balance playing time for each player.  This is not allowed at the LCT.  If a given community has multiple teams at a specific LCT, each player can play on only one team throughout the day.  Violating this rule will result in the second team to play the same player, forfeiting all matches where the player(s) in question was allowed to play.  The original team on which that player played that day will not be penalized, even if the second team is that player’s regular team.

 

• Failure to show.  If a team drops out of an LCT after the schedule is posted (May 6), the League will make every effort to fill the vacancy.  If that happens, teams will not be re-seeded; rather, the replacement team will assume the vacated spot, without regard to team strength.  If a team fails to show at the LCT, whether for all their matches, or a specific match, all affected matches will be won by the opposing team.  For tie breaker purposes, the scores of those matches will be reported as 25-0, 25-0.

 

• Awards.  In the First Tier at Sparta, trophies will be awarded to the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 9th place teams; trophies will be awarded to the 1st and 2nd place teams in the Second Tier at St. Croix Central.  Individual players on teams winning trophies will receive medallions.

 

We provide ten medallions per team at each LCT.  For teams that win a trophy and have more than ten players actually in attendance at the LCT, you will be able to obtain additional medallions after the event by contacting Tracie Tilton at tracie@gnbl.org or 715-749-9048.  No individual awards will be provided to teams that fail to win a team trophy.

 

 

 

First Tier Teams Playing at Sparta:

 

Formatting:  The 32 teams in the First Tier will be placed into eight pools of four teams each, with each team playing each poolmate on a round robin basis for a total of three pool matches. 

 

After pool play, the winner of each pool will advance to the 1st-8th place championship bracket quarterfinal.  The 2nd place finisher in each pool will be slotted into the 9th- 16th place quarterfinals.  All 3rd place finishers will be bracketed into the 17th-24th place quarterfinals, and 4th place finishers will play in the 25th-32nd place quarterfinals. 

 

The pairings for the 1st-8th place championship bracket quarterfinal are as follows: 

Match 1:  #1 Blue v. #1 Grey

Match 2:  #1 Green v. #1 Purple

Match 3:  #1 White v. #1 Orange

Match 4:  #1 Red v. #1 Gold

 

The eight 2nd place pool finishers will advance to the 9th-16th place quarterfinals which will be formatted as follows:

Match 1:  #2 Blue v. #2 Grey

Match 2:  #2 Green v. #2 Purple

Match 3:  #2 White v. #2 Orange

Match 4:  #2 Red v. #2 Gold

 

The eight 3rd place pool finishers will advance to the 17th-24th place quarterfinals.  This bracket is formatted as follows.

Match 1:  #3 Blue v. #3 Grey

Match 2:  #3 Green v. #3 Purple

Match 3:  #3 White v. #3 Orange

Match 4:  #3 Red v. #3 Gold

 

The eight 4th place pool finishers will advance to the 25th-32nd place quarterfinals, which will be formatted as follows:

Match 1:  #4 Blue v. #4 Grey

Match 2:  #4 Green v. #4 Purple

Match 3:  #4 White v. #4 Orange

Match 4:  #4 Red v. #4 Gold

 

Tie-Breakers:  Anytime pool play is involved in a tournament, it’s possible to have several teams tie within a pool.  This is the process to be used to break a tied situation: 

 

• If two teams in a given pool tie with the same match record, the team that won the head-to-head match will be the higher seed. 

 

• Where three teams tie with the same match record (i.e. with 2-1 or 1-2 records), we next go to game winning percentage in all three pool matches (not just against the other teams involved in the tie).  For example, assume that Teams A, B and C tie with match records of 2-1 each.  If Team A was 3-2 (.600) in pool games, Team B was 2-2 in pool games (.500) and Team C was also 2-2 in pool games (.500), Team A would be seeded #1, because it had the better game winning percentage.  Because Team B and Team C have the same game record (2-2), the team that won the head-to-head match would then be seeded #2 and the loser #3. 

 

• Where three teams are still tied after applying the game winning percentage tie breaker, the next tie breaker is the fewest total points given up (i.e., defensive) in all of their pool matches.  If all three teams are still tied after applying the defensive points tie breaker, the next tie breaker is the most total offensive points scored during pool play. 

 

• At any time, when using the tie breakers outlined above, if two teams remain tied that played each other, the winner of the head-to-head match-up gets the higher seed.  In other words, where two teams remain tied, whether after applying the defensive or offensive points tie breaker, the next tie breaker is head-to-head results, not tie breaker points. 

 

For example, if three teams tie with 1-2 match records and 2-4 game records, and Team A gave up 130 points, Team B 132 points and Team C 136 points, Team A would be the top seed of those three teams.However, between Teams B and C, now that there remains a two-way tie, the higher seed goes to whichever team won the head-to-head match-up between these two teams – not automatically Team B because it gave up the fewest defensive points.

 

 

 

Second Tier Teams Playing at St. Croix Central:

 

Formatting:  In the 12-team field, pool play starts with four pools of three teams each, with each team playing each poolmate on a round robin basis for a total of two pool matches.  After pool play, there will be four play-in matches to determine which four teams advance to the Championship quarterfinals.  The pairings for these matches are as follows:

Match 1:  #2 White  v.  #3 Blue

Match 2:  #2 Red  v.  #3 Green

Match 3:  #2 Blue  v.  #3 White

Match 4:  #2 Green  v.  #3 Red

 

The losers of those four matches play two more matches each for 9th through 12th place.  The four winners, on the other hand, advance to the Championship quarterfinals.  The Championship quarterfinals will be formatted as follows:

Match 1:  #1 Blue  v. Winner of Play-in Match 2

Match 2:  #1 Green  v. Winner of Play-in Match 1

Match 3:  #1 White  v. Winner of Play-in Match 4

Match 4:  #1 Red  v. Winner of Play-in Match 3

 

Tie-breakers:  With three-team pools, the only possible tie is a three-way tie with all three teams having a 1-1 match record. 

 

• Where that happens, we next go to game winning percentage in both pool matches.  For example, if Teams A, B and C all have a 1-1 pool match record, with Team A having a pool game record of 2-2 (.500), Team B having a 3-2 game record (.600) and Team C having a 2-3 game record (.400), Team B would be seeded #1, Team A would be seeded #2 and Team C would be seeded #3, based on game winning percentage. 

 

• If three teams are still tied after applying the match and game winning percentage tie breakers, the next tie breaker is the fewest total points given up (i.e., defensive points) in all of their pool matches.  If after breaking a three-way tie with identical match and game records, one team wins the tie breaker based on fewest defensive points allowed, we next go back to head-to-head competition when comparing the remaining two teams. 

 

• If three teams are still tied after applying the defensive points tie breaker, the next tie breaker is the most total offensive (not “average”) points scored during pool play.  After applying the total offensive points scored calculation, we next go back to head-to-head competition when comparing the two remaining teams.  In other words, where two teams remain tied, whether after applying the defensive or offensive points tie breaker, the next tie breaker is head-to-head results, not tie breaker points.

 

 

 

• Questions or Comments.  Questions or comments about the LCT before or after the day of the event, should be directed to Terri Green at 715-386-4317 (terri@gnbl.org) or Tracie Tilton 715-749-9048 (tracie@gnbl.org).  Questions or comments at the event should be directed to the following Tournament Director who will be on site:

 

• 7th Grade:
  • Sparta:  Erika McTaggert
  • St. Croix Central:  Autumn Afdahl