By Jeremy Brunner

Sorry these got posted late. We had some issues in the publishing process.

1-A

In my previous picks, I tended to stay with the favorites. I see no reason to deviate from that formula yet. Duchesne is the top ranked team, and they will win the tournament. Hoopes is just too tough to stop, and the Eagles are too balanced to focus just on him. Watch out for those region 15 teams like Piute and Panguitch, they always seem to dominate the 1-A playoffs at tournament time. And the wildcard is Layton Christian. The Eagles have the talent to take the crown. Heck they have the talent to win 2-A or 3-A. But, LC has yet to win a title because they've struggled with disciplined half-court teams in the state tourney. Last year, they had a close battle with eventual champion Escalante. The Eagles will have to put it together to make a serious run, and it doesn't help that they will likely meet Duchesne in round two.

4-A

The most wide open of any class in the state. Mainly because, it seems like there are no great teams. There are a ton of good teams, but no great teams. Bountiful has stood out in the second half of the season. Olympus and Payson are solid squads that could put together a title run. But watch out for teams like Roy and West. Both have very good records, and are scrappy teams that don't have a dominant center like the Braves. In fact, what the heck. I have to pick at least one upset. Here it is, I'm taking the Roy Royals to go all the way. Roy will erase years of frustration to take the 4-A crown in a close one over Bountiful.

5-A

The opposite of 4-A. There are a ton of great teams. Pleasant Grove, Spanish Fork, American Fork and Lone Peak all battled in an unbelievably tough Region 4. This league could conceivably go 4-0 in the first round. The other region champs: Hillcrest, Bingham and Davis are all title contenders as well. But no team can hang with Lone Peak. The Knights are just a cut above everybody else this year. Their only loss came on a 35 foot bomb in overtime. Tyler Haws is the state's best sophomore, and heck, he may be the state's best player period. But Lone Peak also has the role players to get the job done.

Agree/Disagree? Post below.