Girls’ basketball: Believe it or not, Poly got hosed

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Getting my first real chance to take a good, leisurely look at the Southern Section Division I-AA girls’ playoffs, I see the bracket-makers sure didn’t do Santa Margarita, Troy, JSerra or even top-seeded Long Beach Poly any favors.

Troy and Santa Margarita could match up in the second round. That’s a marquee game any night. So is Ventura and Bishop Amat. Those are really tough second-round games. There’s so much depth in the field, that’s what happens in the state’s toughest division. It’s great for fans though.

Now, if I’ve got all my numbers right ...

Even though it is seeded No. 9, Santa Margarita is actually in a spot designated for the No. 10 team (JSerra) in the bracket. That’s because Santa Margarita and Mater Dei shared the Trinity League title and had to be placed in opposite halves. Mater Dei was in the top half (seeded No. 4), so SM switched places with JSerra, another team from the same league as MD and SM.

By rule, the four playoff teams from the Trinity League had to be in different quarters. Third-place JSerra was placed in Long Beach Poly’s quarter in the spot that should have been occupied by a team from Poly’s league, Long Beach Wilson.

That’s where the most glaring inequity in the division comes into focus, with the possible second-round game between top-seeded Poly and 10th-seeded JSerra. In a normal bracket, Poly should play either No. 15 Dos Pueblos or 16 Wilson (which it can’t because they’re in the same league).

JSerra is No. 23 in the most recent Times’ rankings. I think Poly can take care of itself, but having to face a team of that caliber on the road is not exactly a cupcake assignment that the top-seeded team is supposed to have earned.

By the way, based on the final regular season Times’ top 25, here’s how I-AA would have been seeded had anyone asked me (the second number is what they were actually seeded, third number is where they actually fit into the bracket):

1/1/1 Long Beach Poly
2/2/2 Millikan
3/3/3 Brea Olinda
4/5/5 Lynwood
5/6/6 Ventura
6/4/4 Mater Dei
7/7/7Troy
8/8/8 Bishop Montgomery
9/9/10 Santa Margarita
10/10/16 JSerra

-- Martin Henderson

-- Image from www.chinadaily.net