Minor Changes Made for Basketball Playoffs

After a lot of debate, it was decided Tuesday at a Board of Managers meeting that the format for the San Diego Section basketball playoffs will remain basically the same as last year.

The only change is that championship games in boys’ and girls’ divisions IV and V will be held at the San Diego Sports Arena. Last year, they were held at other county sites.

The playoffs will be open to all teams, and all 10 division championships (five boys and five girls) will be played at the Sports Arena. Championships for divisions I, II, and III will be played on Saturday, March 4. Divisions IV and V will be played Thursday, March 2.

Unlimited playoff participation was introduced last season. But while the San Diego County Basketball Coaches’ Assn. voted unanimously last year against limiting participation, the Coordinating Council this year recommended a 16-team maximum. Had the Board of Managers agreed, only Divisions I (19 schools) and II (25 schools) would have been affected.

Alicia Turner, 2-time San Diego Section 2-A volleyball player of the year for University of San Diego High School, has made a verbal commitment to attend the University of Notre Dame.

“I really liked the atmosphere of the campus,” Turner said. “I went back to visit over Christmas, and everything was decorated, and it was really spirited. I went to a basketball game, and it was a lot of fun. And the football team is No. 1.”

Patrick Henry’s Patricia George walked to the free-throw line Thursday at Morse and stepped directly into the spotlight. With only 7 seconds left, Patrick Henry trailed, 56-55.

The catch was, George hadn’t even played.

When a Morse player committed a foul against a Patrick Henry player, the two got into a fight, and both were ejected. So Patrick Henry Coach John Ferguson picked George to shoot the free throws.

“She shoots well, and I had two girls out of the game,” Ferguson said. “She hadn’t played at all, but she came in cold as can be and cooly put them both through.”

Henry (13-4 overall, 4-0 in the City Eastern League) won, 57-56.

Add Lincoln High School boys’ basketball Coach Ron Loneski to the list of those opposed to Proposition 42, the new National Collegiate Athletic Assn. mandate that colleges will not be able to offer a scholarship to a player who does not meet standards of a 2.0 grade-point average and an Scholastic Aptitude Test score of 700 or an American College Test score of 15.

“I think it’s unfair,” Loneski said. “It seems like the restrictions on athletes are stricter than those on regular students.”

Loneski said Prop. 42 will not affect any potential college basketball players on his current team, ranked No. 2 in the county. Still, he doesn’t like it.

“It upsets me that a student who is an artist or a musician doesn’t have to score a 700 on an SAT. The rules should be across the board for everybody. Why are people constantly seeking out the athletes?

“I work with a lot of kids, and some of them you know are never going to make it. But sometimes kids will surprise you. They’ll mature. You try to motivate kids and give them an option (to go to college), but Proposition 42 takes away that option.”

The rules committee of the National Federation of State High School Assns. has adopted 17 changes that will affect football beginning in 1989, and the emphasis was on controlling unsportsmanlike conduct. The highlights:

The committee voted to move the enforcement spot for non-player and unsportsmanlike fouls after a touchdown to the 3-yard line, where the ball is spotted for extra points. Penalty yardage will be tacked on from there. Enforcement of such fouls previously was carried over to the succeeding kickoff.

Additionally, player penalties against the defensive team incurred on a scoring play will not be carried to the succeeding kickoff. The offensive team must either accept the penalty or the results of the play and no longer will receive the score plus the penalty on the kickoffs.

But unsportsmanlike or non-player fouls committed by the defense during a successful extra point play or field goal and dead ball penalties that occur after such fouls will continue to be extended to the kickoff.

Notes

Cal-Hi Sports ranks Torrey Pines as the state’s No. 1 boys’ basketball team in Division II. Lincoln is No. 2 in the Division III boys’ poll. The Point Loma girls are rated No. 1 in Division I, and Vista is No. 3 in Division II. . . . In a boys’ basketball game against Ramona last Wednesday, Rancho Buena Vista shot 54 free throws, making 33.