The 2016 3A-East Region Basketball Tournament gets underway on Monday, February 22nd with opening round games at higher seeds. Those winners move on to the regional semifinals while punching their ticket to the State Playoffs.

Both semifinal games will be played on Wednesday, February 24th at the higher seed. Finals and consolation matches are set to take place on Friday, February 26th.

Below is our breakdown with links to the brackets...

3A-East Region Bracket Here
All Playoff Brackets Here

Conference 25 #1 - Park View-South Hill (17-5)
Conference 27 #2 - Phoebus (14-10)

Conference 26 #1 - Hopewell (19-4)
Conference 28 #2 - James Monroe (14-9)

Conference 27 #1 - Norcom (23-1)
Conference 25 #2 - Colonial Heights (11-13)

Conference 28 #1 - Culpeper (20-3)
Conference 26 #2 - John Marshall (20-5)

Park View F Keldon Johnson - You can go so many different directions for Spotlight Player in the 3A-East field because there are a ton of good ones. Norcom's Travis Fields (17.3PPG) was the 4A State Player of the Year just last season and is a gamer who'll play his best when the lights are brightest. But one could argue for two other guys on his own team in 6-foot-6 junior swingman K.J. Davis (19.3PPG) or junior guard Travis Ingram (11.9PPG).

Davis dropped 40 points on Norfolk Collegiate in an overtime thriller earlier this year, while Ingram's highlight tape will have some of the most jaw-dropping dunks and plays that you'll find at this level.

John Marshall has a tandem that demands attention in guard Jeremy Carter-Sheppard (16.4PPG, 3.7APG, 46 3's), a University of Central Florida signee that two seasons ago led the state in 3's in helping the Justices win a title, and junior big man Greg Jones (15.1PPG, 10.9RPG), twice named MVP in the VirginiaPreps.com Classic during comeback wins over Landstown and Blue Ridge.

Another guy that deserves to be in the conversation is Culpeper guard Luther Gibbs, who recently became the fourth Blue Devils player to score over 1000 points since 2011 under Head Coach James Thompson.

But Johnson is simply the choice. We haven't seen him play in many games this season because he was out with a broken ankle until late season. When he returned though, he scored 23 points in a victory over Greensville County, considered a 2A title contender. No one scores it as effortlessly, and at 6-foot-5 with the ability to handle it, shoot and score from different areas on the floor, a 40-point effort is never out of the question.

Norcom Greyhounds. Coach Leon Goolsby has built the Portsmouth program into a powerhouse. They are going for their fifth state title in seven years. They won back-to-back crowns with a dynamic trio of Dorian Finney-Smith (Florida Gators), DeCarlos Anderson and Jeremy Canty. Their latest trio of Fields, Davis and Ingram has sights on something seldom ever seen in High School Basketball, which is a three-peat.

Yes, Altavista accomplished it a year ago at the 1A level, but dropping from 4A to 3A, Norcom has played one of the most rugged schedules in all of Virginia to prepare them for whatever comes their way in the postseason. That scheduled included beating Group 6A Woodside, 5A Hampton as well as 4A contenders Lake Taylor and Heritage. They also took down a trio of private school powers in Cape Henry, Norfolk Collegiate and Millwood, plus beat R.J. Reynolds out North Carolina an in out-of-state test.

Norcom's lone blemish came 59-57 loss at L.C. Bird on the final day of January, snapping the Greyhounds' 26-game winning streak.

Offensively, the Greyhounds put up 68.3 points per game and surrender 53.3PPG. Their roles players around the trio of Davis-Ingram-Fields are starting to gain confidence. Tommie Pope gives them an on-ball-defender willing to harass top-flight guards. Darien Allison has provided a boost offensively in key spots. And in the front-court, Jalin Gordon and SaiQuan Clark are starting to embrace their roles as garbage men.

John Marshall and Hopewell are best equipped to beat the Greyhounds in the 3A-East Region field. Northside and Spotswood are formiddable out West, too. When push comes to shove though, Norcom has that refuse to lose mentality, and is the safest choice - maybe in any division - to hoist the big trophy come March.

Phoebus at Park View-South Hill - This one is fascinating to me on few different levels. Just the one-on-one battle between Park View's Keldon Johnson and Phoebus' Robert Smith ought to be worth the price of admission. We're talking about one of the Top 50 sophomores in the country in Johnson, who is in that double-digit offer territory and last year broke the state scoring record for a freshman.

Smith is every bit the athlete - emphasis on athlete, not player - maybe more. His physical nature and rebounding, often in a relentless mode, is going to really challenge Park View.

Johnson was sidelined for much of his sophomore season due to injury, so in his place Heritage transfer Michael Cunningham lit opponents up with several huge scoring outputs. That included a new school-record of 41 points against Windsor and a record 10 three-pointers made it another game.

Phoebus, under the direction of James Daniel, counters with a mighty strong offensive attack. They put up 90 points in their Conference 27 Tournament triumphs over York and Lakeland, which came on the road against a Cavaliers team that was pretty solid with a 15-7 overall record. The Phantoms' eight-game winning streak was snapped in their 88-69 loss to Norcom in the Conference 27 Championship.

This one is likely going to come down to defense. Phoebus can press people and probably has more depth than Park View. But the Phantoms are giving up 63.5PPG, a number that's higher than most teams still playing this time of year. Keep an eye on 5-foot-9 sophomore guard Antwan Miles; he's the x-factor dialing it up from distance in this one.

John Marshall at Norcom - This won't be the first time that these two hook up. It might not be the last either. Some figured these two would face off in the 3A-East Region Championship, then again in the State Final, but Hopewell's 73-70 victory over the Justices in the Conference 26 Tournament Championship nixed that happening.

Much like Goolsby's Greyhounds, Ty White's Justices don't run from anybody. They play a rugged schedule that features hard-fought victories over Deep Run and Blue Ridge, both of which have been ranked #1 in the state in their divisions at some point this season. They did stub their toe a couple times down the stretch, including to Hermitage not long after that win over Deep Run.

Most would be glued to the Fields vs. Carter-Sheppard matchup in the backcourt. Senior Xavier Trent (11.2PPG, 5.8RPG, 34 3's) and junior Isaiah Anderson(10.9PPG, 6.5RPG) are going to have to play well to beat Norcom in its gym.

When they met in the Coaches 4 the Cure event back on February 6th, John Marshall squandered a 10-point lead entering the fourth quarter. Behind Fields' 26 points, aided by a pair of Allison three-pointers, the Greyhounds rallied for the 77-70 victory.

Hopewell Blue Devils. Truth be told, there isn't an easy path to the State Tournament in this field, unless you are Norcom with a first round date against an improved Colonial Heights squad. Sorry Colonial Heights, but I would be shocked out of my mind if the Greyhounds lose that game at home knowing that they must win it in order to continue its pursuit of a third straight State Championship.

But the Greyhounds' probable second round date with John Marshall is worthy of being a regional final or State Championship type matchup. First-year Head Coach Kurt Young inherited a solid team and made some subtle tweaks and adjustments as the season has gone on to put them in a position where this storied program can get back to the State Playoffs for a second straight year.

Remember, Hopewell is used to winning. Bill Littlepage put the program on the map with 755 career wins, second most in VHSL history. In their 73-70 win over John Marshall in the Conference 26 Tournament Championship, the combo of Deonte Jones and Johnnie Harrison combined for 40 points. Those two guys, along with Antoine Ford at the guard spot, make this a team that has to like its chances of getting to the 3A-East Region Championship again.

Last year, the Blue Devils were blasted in that 3A-East Region title game by George Wythe 95-47. That left a bad taste in the mouths of the guys that came back this year. With a home game against either Park View or Phoebus should they get to the second round, they have a manageable route there with Norcom and John Marshall on the other side of the bracket.

Culpeper Blue Devils. Anyone got a harder game as a #1 seed to start off regionals than Culpeper? They take on a John Marshall team that won the State Championship two years ago and has notable wins against higher divisions in the state, including beating a Deep Run team that was once #1 in ultra-tough 5A.

Culpeper won't be fearful of John Marshall; they just may need to knock down a barrage of 3's and hope John Marshall is cold to protect home court and advance. The Blue Devils are averaging 81.7 points per game during a nine-game winning streak, so offensively they are clicking at the right time of the year. The combo of Gibbs and Eli Marks, who scored 24 points in their 84-81 win over James Monroe in the Conference 28 Tournament Championship, is a good one.

The Blue Devils do have quite a few athletes from football and they'll need them to crash the glass to get past John Marshall. Their reward if they win that game? Two-time defending 4A State Champ Norcom, most likely, in Portsmouth. Another brutal matchup.

Conference 25 and Conference 28 get shut out. I'm actually calling for it (which you can see in my predictions at the bottom). Just last year, it was Conference 25 going 0-2 in the first round when Hopewell pounded Lafayette 70-43 and George Wythe annihilated York 105-39. They stand a better chance of getting one through with Park View, mainly because of the Cunningham and Johnson duo. They don't have to play John Marshall or George Wythe or Norcom in the first round either.

Also, last year it was Conference 27 getting shut out by Conference 28. But that was under totally different circumstances when you consider that Culpeper and James Monroe were Conference 27 members. They lost to the likes of Loudoun Valley and John Champe, now contenders in 4A-West. Also, Culpeper and James Monroe shifted over to Conference 28.

James Monroe could dangerous, though. The Yellowjackets have played a rather stingy schedule themselves, which included a trip to Richmond to take on Williamsburg Christian in the VaPreps Classic. That day, Percy Burt finished with 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting, while teammate DreJon Boley nearly posted a double-double of 14 points and nine rebounds.

Quarterfinals: Phoebus over Park View; Hopewell over James Monroe; Norcom over Colonial Heights; John Marshall over Culpeper

Semifinals: Hopewell over Phoebus; Norcom over John Marshall

Consolation: John Marshall over Phoebus

Championship: Norcom over Hopewell

Matthew Hatfield serves as State Basketball Analyst for VirginiaPreps.com, part of the Rivals.com Network, and is a staff writer for Tar Heel Illustrated. Check out Hatfield’s Twitter page for more sports related updates, and you can also read his work in the Suffolk News Herald. To contact Matthew, please e-mail hatfieldsports2k4@yahoo.com, and don’t forget to listen to him every Saturday at 10AM on ESPN Radio 94.1, plus watch him on the Cox 11 Sports Report.