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With the onset of the New Year comes the beginning of East Region play for all six teams in the 3A East. Each of the six teams for both boys and girls will play 10 region games, along with a handful of non-region contests over the course of the next five or six weeks. Those games will go a long way in determining who will eventually make the 24-team state tournament field. Unlike the past two seasons, the East Region this year will not have an end of season tournament. Instead of playing a non-counting tournament, two regular season games for most of the teams have been moved into the final week of the regular season, which will conclude just prior to the beginning of the 3A state tournament.
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Based on the 3A power rankings as of Friday, Jan. 4, the East Region boys teams had five of their six teams ranked inside the top 24. Winslow leads the way in eighth; Show Low is ninth; Holbrook, 15th; Blue Ridge 23rd; and Snowflake is 24th. Payson is currently 35th in the standings.
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For the girls East Region teams, four are currently inside the top 24 but three of those four are in the top 10. Winslow is fourth; Holbrook, seventh; Payson, ninth; Show Low, 22nd; Blue Ridge, 34th; and Snowflake is 35th.
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With all teams having completed mid-season tournaments, all games from this point forward will count towards the power rankings. Games highlighting this week’s match ups for girls teams include No. 9 Payson at No. 7 Holbrook yesterday (Tuesday) and No. 4 Winslow hosting No. 7 Holbrook on Friday.
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For the boys teams along with the Winslow and Holbrook match up on Friday, the eighth ranked Bulldogs will play at ninth ranked Show Low on Wednesday.
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