After years of trying, maybe even a decade or two, high school basketball coaches in West Virginia have broken through in their efforts to reform the postseason.
After years of trying, maybe even a decade or two, high school basketball coaches in West Virginia have broken through in their efforts to reform the postseason.
As a result, highly regarded teams can lose in the sectionals and still live to see the state tournament.
The Secondary School Activities Commission's Board of Directors passed a proposal Wednesday to revamp the sectional and regional tournament format for boys and girls basketball, beginning immediately.
The specter of a No. 1 team sending a No. 2 squad home (or vice versa) on the opening day of the postseason has apparently passed. Coaches such as Mick Price of Ravenswood have advanced such proposals for years, but have failed until now.
"If you have two good schools [in the same section or region], possibly two can [reach the state tournament]," said Parkersburg athletic director Richard Lance, who was part of the Basketball Restructuring Committee. "It could be two Charleston-area teams, two from Parkersburg, two from Jefferson County. We want the best schools, the best teams in the state tournament."
The state will be divided into four regions, instead of the current eight. Each region will send two teams to the state tournament - possibly one that suffers a loss in the sectional final.
The format is much the same as is used for volleyball, except there will not be a regional championship game.
At a point in the season, perhaps in late January, coaches will vote on seeding for their entire "super region." That vote will set up the brackets for the sectional tournaments - a fifth seed will play a fourth seed with the winner playing No. 1, the No. 2 will play No. 3, and so forth.
Until the two sectional finalists are determined, the playoffs remain a one-and-done deal. But after the sectional final, both teams move on to a regional game - the sectional final loser plays at the champion from the other section, while the winner plays on its home floor against the other section's runner-up. The winners of those two games go to the state tournament.
As before, coaches will vote on state-tournament seeding before the regional games, ranking the 16 teams.
In the new format, the two-team sectional is dead - and along with it, the situation where the two teams are highly ranked and one goes home early.
That has happened a number of times in the Kanawha Valley. South Charleston and George Washington have made up a powerhouse sectional in recent years, for example. They were to be joined by Logan, which showed signs of being able to handle the jump from Class AA to AAA.
Other parts of the state have suffered - for instance, Hedgesville was ranked second in the state, Martinsburg fourth and Jefferson eighth and were all aligned in the same section. The two Parkersburg schools have been affected from time to time, as have schools in Morgantown, the Northern Panhandle, Wyoming County and other areas.
George Washington coach Rick Greene seemed to be relieved, with some reservation.
"What I don't like is, if you get beat you need to go home," he said. "That said, this is still better than a logjam in a strong section. There is still a chance to get the best teams in the state tournament. The purist in me says you need to go home if you lose, but if you're not going to spread [the state's schools] out, this gives teams a chance."
South Charleston coach Bobby Dawson, who survived the "group of death" sectional last year, praised the concept.
After years of trying, maybe even a decade or two, high school basketball coaches in West Virginia have broken through in their efforts to reform the postseason.
As a result, highly regarded teams can lose in the sectionals and still live to see the state tournament.
The Secondary School Activities Commission's Board of Directors passed a proposal Wednesday to revamp the sectional and regional tournament format for boys and girls basketball, beginning immediately.
The specter of a No. 1 team sending a No. 2 squad home (or vice versa) on the opening day of the postseason has apparently passed. Coaches such as Mick Price of Ravenswood have advanced such proposals for years, but have failed until now.
"If you have two good schools [in the same section or region], possibly two can [reach the state tournament]," said Parkersburg athletic director Richard Lance, who was part of the Basketball Restructuring Committee. "It could be two Charleston-area teams, two from Parkersburg, two from Jefferson County. We want the best schools, the best teams in the state tournament."
The state will be divided into four regions, instead of the current eight. Each region will send two teams to the state tournament - possibly one that suffers a loss in the sectional final.
The format is much the same as is used for volleyball, except there will not be a regional championship game.
At a point in the season, perhaps in late January, coaches will vote on seeding for their entire "super region." That vote will set up the brackets for the sectional tournaments - a fifth seed will play a fourth seed with the winner playing No. 1, the No. 2 will play No. 3, and so forth.
Until the two sectional finalists are determined, the playoffs remain a one-and-done deal. But after the sectional final, both teams move on to a regional game - the sectional final loser plays at the champion from the other section, while the winner plays on its home floor against the other section's runner-up. The winners of those two games go to the state tournament.
As before, coaches will vote on state-tournament seeding before the regional games, ranking the 16 teams.
In the new format, the two-team sectional is dead - and along with it, the situation where the two teams are highly ranked and one goes home early.
That has happened a number of times in the Kanawha Valley. South Charleston and George Washington have made up a powerhouse sectional in recent years, for example. They were to be joined by Logan, which showed signs of being able to handle the jump from Class AA to AAA.
Other parts of the state have suffered - for instance, Hedgesville was ranked second in the state, Martinsburg fourth and Jefferson eighth and were all aligned in the same section. The two Parkersburg schools have been affected from time to time, as have schools in Morgantown, the Northern Panhandle, Wyoming County and other areas.
George Washington coach Rick Greene seemed to be relieved, with some reservation.
"What I don't like is, if you get beat you need to go home," he said. "That said, this is still better than a logjam in a strong section. There is still a chance to get the best teams in the state tournament. The purist in me says you need to go home if you lose, but if you're not going to spread [the state's schools] out, this gives teams a chance."
South Charleston coach Bobby Dawson, who survived the "group of death" sectional last year, praised the concept.
"Anything's better than what we've got," he said. "I wasn't looking forward to that. Logan's got everybody coming back, and GW's always tough. I never thought that was fair. It's not just me - there are other sections that are tough.
"If it does get the best teams [to the state tournament], I'm all for it."
Price, the boys coach at Ravenswood, has spearheaded several unsuccessful proposals over the years. Last year, the board rejected a plan to seed teams in the sectional and then seed them again for a statewide round of 16.
It has long been a frustration for strong teams to get bounced in sectionals, then watch inferior teams get mopped up in the first round at the Civic Center.
That has long been the case, even before the eight teams were seeded. But since seeding began, the 8-vs.-1 game usually has been a pummeling - for instance, that matchup in the Class A girls tournament began with the top seed taking a 57-7 lead.
While the ultimate goal is improving the state tournament, the regional games could become more competitive, as well. This year, the boys regional finals included scores of 78-47, 77-37, 93-54, 54-27, 87-30 and 87-32.
In theory, the regional games also could draw better crowds. The sectional champions will get the home floor, if they meet minimums set by the Basketball Restructuring Committee - for example, a AAA boys gym must seat 1,000 people to be eligible to play host to the regional. If the school does not meet the minimum, it must choose the closest site that qualifies.
"The regional games will be highly contested and highly attended," predicted Bill Gillespie, the athletic director at Charleston Catholic who helped create the proposal. "That's very attractive to the SSAC - the regional money goes to the SSAC."
Many details must be hashed out between now and the next Board of Directors meeting in August. As Gillespie pointed out, this is a good year for such a radical change - several schools are switching classifications, and the regions were being realigned anyway.
But as baseball, softball, track and tennis coaches can testify, dividing the state into four parts is a tricky and controversial task. Tournament logistics will be somewhat different, as well.
"We have Logan coming in [to AAA] and Winfield coming in," said St. Albans boys coach Marshall Kiser. "It will be interesting to see how they go geographically."
But while several area coaches are wondering how the new system works for their particular school, they seem to agree on one thing: With a nod remaining to geographical representation, there is a better chance of getting the best eight teams to Charleston.
"The end result was a little bit of everything. It's a start for doing something better," Price said.
"This was not change for change's sake," said Gary Ray, executive director of the SSAC. "We have a great state tournament, and I just hope it improves on what we have. It's exciting for our student-athletes, and their opportunities to play in the state tournament."
The SSAC will draw up the new regions over the summer. All realignment work to this point is disregarded.
To contact staff writer Doug Smock, use e-mail or call 348-5130.
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