Basketball needs a county tournament

Bradenton Christian's boys basketball team can lay claim to being the champion of the Smoothie King Classic tournament.
But are the Panthers the champions of Manatee County?
Perhaps.
The boys tournament, which was played during the last week of December at BCS, included all but one Manatee County team - Saint Stephen's, which takes a 4-3 record into Thursday's home game with Tampa Bay Christian, was absent - and used Out-of-Door Academy to round out the field.
Would the Falcons have made a difference? Maybe. Maybe not. No one will ever know.
But the Class 1A Panthers did play a sound tournament. After beating ODA in the first round, they outlasted Class 4A Braden River in the semifinals and knocked off Class 5A Manatee in the finals after by trailing by as many as 20 points in the third quarter.
And keep in mind the Panthers haven't lost to a Manatee County team since the 2006-07season, and defeated county foes such as Palmetto and Manatee last year.
So it wouldn't be a stretch to call BCS the best boys basketball team in Manatee County. That being said, however, it would be nice to see a bona fide county championship.
Pick a gym. Pick a weekend. Have a coaches meeting to determine the seeding, and play it out.
It's doable.
Volleyball does it. Golf does it. Cross country does it. Wrestling does it. Track and field does it. Swimming does it. And beginning last fall, football did it with the six public schools.
So why not basketball? As we saw at Bradenton Christian last week, eight-team tournaments can be run efficiently. And unlike holiday tournaments, where all teams are guaranteed three games regardless of how they do in the first one, the county tournament could be a one-and-done affair.
Win and move on. Lose and head home. If you want the two teams that lost in the semifinals to play a third-place game, so be it.
With the Florida High School Athletic Association deciding not to pare down the schedules, and basketball teams retaining their maximum 25 games, there is time and space to do something like this.
Getting a good crowd won't be a problem, with all eight teams bringing their share of supporters.
Holiday tournaments are great. But it would be nice, at least once, to give a true-blue county championship a try.