HIGH SCHOOL PLAYOFFS : BASKETBALL

The Section girls’ and boys’ basketball pairings figured to be controversy-free this year, with practically any team with five players making the field in the five divisions.

But controversy somehow found a way to creep into what seemed like cut-and-dried proceedings.

The Division I boys’ selection committee took about an hour to decide that Mt. Miguel (12-10) should be one of the five teams excluded from the 16-team draw.

Steve Selland, Southwest High’s coach and a Metro Conference representative, said the choice came down to Granite Hills (9-16, 4-4), Hilltop (14-13, 2-6) and Mt. Miguel. Although Granite Hills had a poorer overall record, it defeated Mt. Miguel twice and had a better record in the division.

“At first we had a tie vote and then we had a tiebreaker,” Selland said. “Granite Hills’ coach was not at the meeting and their committee representative did not speak up for them. That’s why we were considering Mt. Miguel.

Sweetwater (25-1) was awarded the Division I boys’ No. 1 seed, and Mt. Carmel (20-5) the second. Patrick Henry (21-4) was seeded third and San Diego (16-4) fourth.

In the bottom half of the draw, there are three Palomar League teams--Poway (17-7), Rancho Buena Vista (14-9) and Mt. Carmel. Mt. Carmel could possibly meet seventh-seeded Poway in the second round.

Peggy Brose, Mt. Carmel’s girls coach, was not pleased with her teams’s draw, which gave her the No. 1 seeding and possible semifinal game with Poway. Santana was seeded second.

“It would be nice if they realized we played Poway four times this season,” Brose said. “We’ve been ranked behind Santana all year, but (Santana girl’s coach Wade Vickery) felt he should have been the No. 2 seed and obviously he has more bargaining power than I do.”

In the boys’ division II field, Torrey Pines (24-3) was given the No. 1 seed over San Pasqual (17-5). Point Loma (23-3) was seeded No. 1 in division I girls’ and San Pasqual (21-4) was second.

University City (16-6) gained the top seed in the boys’ Division III field over Lincoln Prep (19-8).