PREP REVIEW / MIKE REILLEY : Section Gets Point, Drops Rating System

Southern Section administrators have eliminated the power-rating point system used last season to select at-large teams for the section’s boys’ and girls’ basketball playoffs.

Instead of the point system, the Southern Section now will have at-large candidates for its 10 boys’ and girls’ divisions play each other for the remaining spots. The boys’ teams will play on the Tuesday after the regular season ends and the girls will play Wednesday.

“Our tournament is like Indiana’s now,” said Dean Crowley, associate section commissioner. “We’re an open tournament.

“The point system was just not workable. We (the advisory committee) decided that the best way to determine things is on the basketball court.”

The top three teams from each league receive automatic playoff berths. The rest of the brackets are filled by at-large teams.

Under the point system, at-large teams were selected on the following criteria:

--One point for scheduling any team above a school’s division. For example, if a team such as Laguna Beach (2-A) plays in a league of 3-A and 4-A teams, Laguna Beach will receive a point for playing each game. The school also would receive points for scheduling nonleague games.

--One point for defeating any team in a higher division.

--One point for defeating an eventual league champion or co-champion, regardless of division.

--One point for winning a non-league tournament championship.

The system was used for the first time in last season’s playoffs and created several problems.

Teams such as Mayfair (0-22), La Quinta (2-20) and Costa Mesa (2-19) were among the 285 teams who made the playoffs. Loara (15-7), which finished fourth in the Empire League, was left out of the 4-AA division. Meanwhile, Cypress (7-15), which finished last in the Empire League and lost twice to Loara, earned an at-large bid in the 4-A division.

Loara Coach Jerry Halpin worked with the Southern Section advisory committee that proposed the format change. He said the open format will be fair to all teams.

“Because the Southern Section classifications are tied to state enrollment, we had to do something to open the tournament up,” Halpin said. “It will be only one more game for each team. A lot of people asked why should we have a regular season if we have an open tournament? I think people need to get used to it. A few years ago everyone was complaining about the three-point shot.”

Under the point system, Loara received only nine points despite winning the Garden Grove and Pacifica tournaments. Ventura (8-17), the last team admitted to the 4-AA playoffs, had 18 points.

“The league games kept us out,” Halpin said. “The 4-AA teams that made it in ahead of us played in leagues against bigger schools. We only got one point for winning each of the tournaments, and we beat teams like (3-AA champion) Estancia and Western.”

Crowley said awarding points to schools for scheduling games against larger schools wasn’t fair.

“I’ve always said these things should be decided on the court,” Crowley said. “Laguna Beach was a great team and (it) made the playoffs. But suppose Laguna Beach hadn’t won a game this year; it would have had a lot of points because it plays larger schools in the Pacific Coast League. The system just wasn’t totally equitable to everyone involved.”

Crowley said the Southern Section will rename its 10 divisions to match the state tournament’s format. In the past, the largest Southern Section division was 5-AA, and the state tournament’s largest one was Division I. The largest Southern Section division will now be named I-AA, followed by I-A, II-AA, etc.

Go figure: Is Cal State Fullerton recruiting Mater Dei guard Jason Quinn? It depends on who you’re talking to.

Said Mater Dei Coach Gary McKnight: “Cal State Fullerton was looking at him and so was Southern California College. I think he can rule Fullerton out. There’s a miscommunication there. A lot of Division II schools talked to him and Fullerton was looking at him.”

Cal State Fullerton Coach John Sneed said: “I don’t know why Gary keeps telling the press that Jason Quinn is going to Fullerton. We’re not recruiting him. I’ve never talked to him and he’s never visited our school.”

Other Mater Dei news: McKnight said guard David Boyle has been offered a scholarship by Chapman College and also visited UC Davis and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Forward Andy Karich signed with Santa Clara, center Derek Stone with Boise State and forward Charlie Andres is walking on at California, McKnight said. Reserve Paul Nolan announced that he will play at Redlands.

Doug Dreibelbis was surprised when he learned Katella junior Kevin Carlson tied his county high jump record Thursday with a leap of 6 feet 11 3/4 inches in a dual meet against Esperanza.

“I was amazed,” Dreibelbis said. “No one ever goes for that height in a meet.”

Most high jumpers go for the magical 7-foot mark, which is what Dreibelbis did seven years ago when he competed for Foothill at the Mt. San Antonio College Relays.

“I was up against a guy from the Australian national high school team,” Dreibelbis said. “I tried twice at 7 feet and missed, and he missed three times. Then I made it on my third jump, but I just nicked the bar. When the officials remeasured it after my jump, it was only 6-11 3/4.”

Dreibelbis went on to clear 7 feet at UC Santa Barbara. He was a two-time PCAA champion, clearing 7- 3/4 as a senior.

Dreibelbis, now a laboratory engineer in Tustin, said his share of the record probably won’t last much longer.

“Carlson’s only a junior?” Dreibelbis asked. “He’ll probably break the record by the end of the year.”

La Quinta baseball Coach Dave Demarest gained his 300th career victory Wednesday when the Aztecs defeated visiting Garden Grove, 6-1, in a Garden Grove League game.

“I didn’t even know how many wins I had until a couple of weeks ago,” said Demarest, who has compiled a 301-120 record in 17 years at La Quinta. “I was filling out forms for the Far West Classic (tournament) and the questionnaire asked what the coach’s career record was.

“I had to look back through old programs. I saw that I was 286-114. We went 13-6 in the tournament. I didn’t even tell the team about the (career) record.”

Demarest averaged nearly 18 victories a season with teams rarely larger than 13 players.

Gonna fly now: In Thursday’s Century League swim meet between Villa Park and El Modena, John Clearly swam the butterfly during the 200 freestyle. He finished second (2:04.88) to teammate Josh Woolery (1:54.31).

Villa Park Coach Jeff Ehrlich said Clearly’s change in stroke was legal.

“High school meets don’t have a 200 butterfly and John wanted to get a time in the event because he may swim it in college,” Ehrlich said. “This was his chance to do it.”

Surprise, surprise: No one gave Newport Harbor’s baseball team much of a chance when the Sailors played Tustin, the county’s top-ranked team, in a Sea View League game last week. The unranked Sailors were only 5-14 overall and 3-4 in the league, and Tustin was 15-2, 7-0.

But Newport Harbor pitcher Bob Sliker had other ideas.

Sliker pitched a three-hitter in a 4-0 victory at Newport Harbor. Sliker (4-3) also was three for three as the Sailors had nine hits off Tustin starter Danny Baker.

But Tustin had all the hitting two days later, with 19 hits in a 22-0 victory.