Home-Court Advantage, Disparity in Wealth Tinge State Tournament

Another Southern California team won the boys’ state basketball championship in Division I last weekend. But does that mean the region always sends its best team to the state finals in Oakland?

Since the current statewide playoff format began in 1982, Southern California teams have brought home the Division I championship. Saturday night, Santa Ana Mater Dei became the ninth in succession, holding on to defeat Northern California champion San Francisco Riordan, 62-60.

Even considering the region’s success, though, improvements can be made to ensure that only the best area teams reach the finals.

It sometimes seems that the California Interscholastic Federation has lost sight of the tournament’s purpose, providing fair and exciting competition.

From the selections of at-large teams, to home-court advantages to the abundance of sponsorship, the state playoffs seem to have become more a big-time moneymaker.

For example, when Loyola of Los Angeles was chosen over perennial City power Crenshaw for the final at-large berth in the boys’ Southern Regional Division I, City backers complained.

They claimed that Crenshaw, the defending and four-time state champion, had not received enough credit for its City competition and that Loyola, the Southern Section 5-A Division runner-up, had won most of its games over weaker Southern Section teams.

Loyola’s selection was made by a committee consisting of representatives from the four Southern California sections, the Southern, the City, the San Diego and the Central. It was a close decision for the committee but a key factor was Loyola’s printed media booklet, which hyped the Cubs’ season, whereas Crenshaw only had a standard playoff information sheet.

It is difficult for a committee to decide which runners-up should go to the tournament, but it should not come down to which schools spend the most money to promote their teams.

Perhaps a separate governing body whose sole responsibility would be to decide on the best teams using set guidelines would be in a better position to pick the at-large teams.

State Tournament Director Ray Bell supports the current method.

“I don’t think that anyone can be better prepared to make judgment on the teams than Section representatives,” Bell said. “I honestly think that they vote for the best eight teams in every division and having the better record is not always the answer.”

According to Bell, the schools under consideration could help through increased participation at the selection committee’s meetings.

“The meetings are open to everyone and we give each representative a chance to make a five-minute presentation on each team,” said Bell, who also is Director of the Northern Regional. “However, not too many people show up.”

Another questionable practice is allowing home-court advantages. Artesia had such an advantage in the playoffs, defeating Visalia Golden West and Oceanside El Camino in the first two rounds.

Some argue that in a tournament that consists of only champions and runners-up, all games should be played at neutral sites, but in the Southern Regional, a majority of first- and second-round games are at home sites.

“There are not enough facilities for everyone to play at neutral sites,” Bell said. “You like to have every game in a gym with adequate seating to accommodate both schools.”

In the Northern Regional, Divisions I, II and III play all semifinals and finals at neutral sites.

Finally, there might not be anything wrong with corporate sponsorship in high school sports but over the last few years, complaints have been heard from schools rich in athletic tradition but not in money or fan support. They claim that the wealthier schools are catered to when tournament decisions are made.

With constant reminders from Reebok, Ford and Coca-Cola clearly visible during the tournament, one has to wonder what role, if any, corporate sponsorship plays in this complaint.

“Corporate sponsorship does not have any influence on the games,” Bell said. “They are involved only for public relations, advertisement and exposure. We need to have some sort of corporate sponsorship in order to survive.”

Overall, the state tournament has grown into one of the best in the nation, both in terms of competition and organization, but like in nearly everything else, there is room for improvement.