Sometimes the postseason can produce whackiness

It's kind of kooky, but you get kooky sometimes when it comes to the boys' basketball postseason.

Iowa City High lost eight games in a row to close the regular season and 10 of its final 11. The Little Hawks have a less-than-inspiring 7-15 record.

But since substate seeds are based only on results of games 5 through 15, City High was good enough to be a second seed in 4A, Substate 5. That's important because it gave the Little Hawks a first-round bye and a home game in the second round.

City High hosts Clinton (13-9) Friday night at 7. That's a Clinton team that lost its best player, 6-foot-9 center Brady Ernst, to a torn ACL in its first-round win Monday night over Muscatine.

If City High can somehow conquer Clinton, it would play a substate final Tuesday night, likely against Pleasant Valley. That's a fourth-ranked PV team that recently lost its best player, Wil Carius, to an injury.

Kind of kooky, right?

The Iowa High School Athletic Association doesn't have a set formula for determining where schools are placed in districts and substates. Geography trumps the most.

But it seems to do a better job of splitting up the power in Class 4A than anywhere else. Thus it was justifiable when Pleasant Valley, unbeaten at the time pods were released in early February, was given a favorable six-team substate assignment.

In other weird 4A substate happenings, Burlington won its first game of the season Monday night, topping Ottumwa in a substate opener, 71-61. Keep in mind, Burlington scored 16 points in its regular-season finale, a 67-16 loss to North Scott.

That would seem to be a significant break for Cedar Rapids Washington (12-9), which hosts the Grayhounds in a substate semifinal. Of course, the Warriors would very likely draw three-time defending champion Iowa City West in the substate finals, so ….

Here are all of Friday night's games:

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CLASS 4A SUBSTATE SEMIFINALS

(All games at 7 p.m.)

Metro-Iowa City-Area

Burlington (1-21) at Cedar Rapids Washington (12-9)

Cedar Falls (15-7) at Cedar Rapids Kennedy (16-5)

Cedar Rapids Prairie (9-13) at Iowa City West (21-0)

Clinton (13-9) at Iowa City High (7-15)

Waterloo West (7-14) at Linn-Mar (17-4)

Western Dubuque (19-3) at North Scott (18-3)

State

Ankeny (10-12) at Des Moines Hoover (19-1)

Bettendorf (7-15) at Dubuque Hempstead (14-7)

Council Bluffs Lewis Central (11-12) at Council Bluffs Lincoln (18-3)

Davenport North (9-13) at Pleasant Valley (19-2)

Des Moines Lincoln (5-16) at Ankeny Centennial (18-3)

Des Moines Roosevelt (12-10) at West Des Moines Valley (16-5)

Fort Dodge (8-14) at Ames (15-6)

Johnston (9-13) at Waukee (16-5)

Sioux City East (16-6) at Sioux City North (12-9)

Urbandale (18-5) at West Des Moines Dowling (14-7)

l Comments: (319) 398-8259; jeff.johnson@thegazette.com