[JRutledge]

One of the biggest differences is what happens in the playoffs with both sides. Everyone in our state makes the playoffs. Teams are seeded by Sectionals and there are 16 sectionals. It is usually very predictable who is going to go to the State Finals (last 8 teams) almost every year. You can count on 2 or 3 teams making it from the beginning of the season. On the boy's side upsets happen all the time. A team in the regional I worked went all the way to the Super-Sectional and no one would have ever guessed they would win in the regional. Forty point wins almost never happen, even with the teams that barely win a single game. Blowouts are common on the girl's side. The main reason I think this is the case, the boy's play year round and have been playing the game since they could walk. Girl's pick up the game much later than boys and the better players seemed to play more with boy's as they were growing up. They talked about this on the McDonald's All-American Girl's game. Almost all those players had a brother or their father played basketball with them a lot and influenced their games. In other words they play like the guys and they dominate their fellow girl opponents. The better girl's players do not shy away from contact and in many cases are fearless. Many boy's play football and basketball contact does not at all faze them.

There are good players all over the country. I know this area in the last 10 years on the Women's side there have been several Illinois players that have won national championships. Whether they were on Purdue, Notre Dame or Tennessee, there were key players on each of these teams NC teams. Who cares which area is better? I have watched tournament games on TV and the game looks pretty much the same as it does here.

Peace