For the past four years, McGuinness has dominated Class 4A basketball. The Irish do hold the third seed, but the odds are against them with two 4A powerhouses standing in their way.

An obstacle that McGuinness may face is the Douglass Trojans. The Trojans ran the table in the regular season, and are unblemished entering the state tournament. This team is even scarier with the Trojan’s “youth movement”; there isn’t a single senior on the team.

Possibly in the semi-finals, the Irish may have to face a familiar opponent. The Star Spencer Bobcats are back, and hope to defend their 2009 4A State Championship. However, they were upset in the Area Championship game a week ago, and had to play an extra game to get themselves into the Dance.

The thought of having to face both teams back-to-back days is a very scary thought to process, but that’s what it’ll take to win it all.

For those optimistic about Bishop McGuinness’ chances, let’s look at the positives.

Star Spencer has been beaten several times this season, and Douglass is due for a loss. With the revenge factor with the Bobcats, the Irish are gunning for the team that denied them of a fourth consecutive state championship.

If the Irish can pull out wins on Thursday and Friday, more than likely they will face Douglass in the championship game. If this was to occur, it is certain that the Trojans have a lot more to lose than the Irish do. A perfect record is nice on the stat sheet, but it is meaningless if you can’t deliver in the title game.

To start off “Mission Impossible”, the Irish take on the Cache Bulldogs this Thursday at 2:00 PM at Oklahoma Christian University. Principal David Morton has confirmed that Thursday will be a short day for the BMCHS students. This will allow the McGuinness students to make it to the game on time, and to cheer on the boys.

Cache is one of the two unranked teams in the Dance that made a playoff push towards the end of the season. Prior to their success, Cache was a team that struggled to stay consistent, but do not underestimate them based on their past.

Green and white flags will be flying in about two days, and if you can’t make it to the game, the IrishOnDeck.com video highlights are making a return. Also, you can follow the score with the IOD’s Twitter updates.

And a reminder to the McGuinness fans, stay classy.