Cedar Rapids Washington’s boys’ basketball team has been ranked in Class 4A most of the season, but that didn’t matter when it came to putting together postseason pairings that were released Tuesday by the Iowa High School Athletic Association.

Cedar Rapids Jefferson's Jarrod Uthoff (left) goes up for a shot against Cedar Rapids Washington's Sean Bredl during the third quarter of their game at Washington High School on Friday, Dec. 17, 2010, in southeast Cedar Rapids. Washington won, 49-41. (Jim Slosiarek/SourceMedia Group News)

Washington is a third seed in its six-team substate and gets no first-round bye as a result. The Warriors host Clinton in a first-rounder Feb. 21.

Cedar Rapids Kennedy and Dubuque Senior got the top two seeds and first-round byes in Substate 4. If Washington beats Clinton, it would play a second-round game at Senior on Feb. 25.

The IHSAA uses games 5 through 15 to determine seedings in all four classes. Despite having a superior overall record (11-6) than Senior (9-7), Wash went 6-5 in those key games to Senior’s 7-4.

Strength of schedule in games 5 through 15, however, was far, far superior for Washington, considering it played ranked teams Cedar Rapids Jefferson twice, Cedar Rapids Kennedy twice and Linn-Mar and Iowa City West once each, as well as a ranked Minnesota team from the Twin Cities.

Senior played only Jefferson and Kennedy and lost those games by 20-plus points.

No other real surprises in the other 4A substates. Cedar Falls and Jefferson are 1-2 in Substate 3 and would potentially meet in a March 1 final at the McLeod Center in Cedar Falls.

Linn-Mar is the top seed in its substate and would potentially play the first game of a substate final double-header on March 1 at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids. The Kennedy-Washington-Senior substate final is the back half of that twin-bill.

Iowa City West is a No. 2 seed behind Davenport West in Substate 5 and would host the winner of Davenport Central-Burlington in a second-round game Feb. 25. The substate final is in Muscatine.

In 3A, Marion hosts Center Point-Urbana in a first-round district game Feb. 21. The winner plays either Mount Vernon or Independence in a district final Feb. 24 at Cedare Rapids Kennedy, with a substate final scheduled for Feb. 28 at the U.S. Cellular Center.

It’s a double-header that night as well, with a substate final potentially involving Solon, Dubuque Wahlert or Davenport Assumption also on tap.

Here is a link to all district and substate pairings:

https://www.iahsaa.org/secure/brackets.php?sport=bb

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