Based on records and state rankings, there is no better basketball league in the Brazos Valley than the District 24-3A girls.

Third-ranked Madisonville will close the regular season at sixth-ranked Navasota, while seventh-ranked Rudder has a bye. Madisonville can repeat as district champion by beating Navasota, but the Lady Rattlers have a chance to cause a three-way tie for the title with a victory.

"I think it's going to be pretty crazy at our place," Navasota coach Tommy Gates said.

Crazy might seem calm compared to what's ahead.

Officials from Rudder, Navasota and Madisonville were trying Monday to decide how to deal with the possible three-way tie. It's clear that the teams would be declared tri-champions, and that the head-to-head tie-breaker would not work because each team would have split with the others.

Which leads to this part of the minutes from the district meeting: "The three teams shall odd-man-out, or draw for a bye. The two remaining teams shall have a playoff as soon as possible at a neutral site. The winner of this game will be declared first-place representative. If the bye team loses the championship game, they will play the loser of the first-round game for second place."

Implied, but not clearly stated, is that the winner of the first game, with the top seed assured, will play the team with the opening bye in a championship game.

To complicate matters, the coaches would prefer to be the second seed rather than the first. That's because the No. 1 and No. 3 seeds from the district likely will meet in the Region III quarterfinal round. The No. 2 seed can't run into a district rematch until the regional final.

Rudder coach John Shelton said the UIL would allow the teams to hold the playoff games Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Since Rudder has an open date Tuesday and the district champ gets a bye in the first round, it's not surprising that Shelton wants to play the games rather than decide by coin flips.

Navasota coach Tommy Gates can take or leave a playoff, although he doesn't like the idea of possibly playing Madisonville or Rudder four times in the same season.

Madisonville can tidy things up with a win, but the Lady Mustangs will face a major challenge as they go to Navasota after losing a dramatic overtime game at home to Rudder on Friday.

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Bryan has clinched the outright 12-5A championship, while the A&M Consolidated girls are out of playoff contention going into the final night of the regular season.

The 12th-ranked Lady Vikings (29-2, 12-1) will visit seventh-place Belton with a two-game advantage over Temple (21-9, 10-3).

Consol (12-17, 6-7) will finish the season at playoff-bound Copperas Cove. The Lady Tigers trail fourth-place Killeen Ellison (24-8, 8-5) by two games.

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No extra game will be required to determine the 20-2A champion. Leon (20-5, 8-1) will play at Marlin (18-8, 8-1) on Tuesday, with the winner claiming the district title and top seed in the playoffs.

Franklin's girls (14-11, 4-5) can force a playoff for the league's third spot in the postseason by going on the road and beating Teague (23-8, 5-4). The Lady Lions will need a major turnaround, because Franklin lost 43-31 at home to Teague in the first meeting.

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St. Joseph has earned another trip to the TAPPS playoffs after reaching the private-school Final Four last season. St. Joseph will host Austin Concordia at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the bi-district round.

The Lady Eagles (10-8, 4-2) earned the right to play at home by finishing second behind Waco Vanguard in Class 3A District 5. Concordia Academy (11-7, 8-5) was fourth in District 6.

The winner between St. Joseph and Concordia will advance to face District 7 champion Tomball Rosehill Christian (34-4) in the area round Saturday.

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There will be a showdown Tuesday in District 26-A Division I, with second-place Mumford (19-9, 8-1) playing host to league leader Snook (24-6, 9-0). The Lady Mustangs need a home win over the 20th-ranked Lady Bluejays to forge a tie for the district title.