Coaches Give Mixed Reviews to Limits on Playoff Berths

The Southern Section Council overwhelmingly adopted a measure last week that will limit entry into basketball playoffs.

The measure, which passed by a 42-12 vote, says that only teams that finish in the top 50% in their league will automatically qualify for the playoffs. All other teams may petition for an at-large entry as long as they have won at least 10 games during the regular season.

For a team to be considered for an at-large berth, there must be an opening in its division bracket. The measure goes into effect this season.

Since the 1989-90 season, the Southern Section had allowed every team in the section to compete in the playoffs.

Dean Crowley, Southern Section basketball administrator, said the measure will have a positive impact on the playoffs.

“By placing a standard on qualification and limiting entries for the playoffs, the council action will achieve two goals,” Crowley said. “It will improve the overall quality of our tournament fields while reducing the total number of contests necessary to produce champions.”

Morningside Coach Carl Franklin agrees with the measure, for the most part.

“I feel that it’s just more of a traditional approach in which you earn (a berth) by finishing one, two or three in your league and I’m in favor of that,” he said. “I think we got ridiculous when we let some teams with really bad records get in the playoffs.”

But a number of South Bay coaches are unhappy about the decision. Most agree that participation in the playoffs should be limited but are upset with the timing of the decision.

“At this time, it’s such a big surprise,” Torrance Coach George Tachibana said. “I just don’t think you should be making this kind of change this late in the season. I’m all for the rule, but I wish they had done that before the season or waited until next season.”

The measure is particularly troubling to Tachibana because it could affect his team’s participation in the playoffs this season. Despite impressive nonleague victories over Southern Section powers Morningside and Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, the 9-10 Tartars are tied for third place in the Pioneer League at 2-2.

“When I first saw it in the newspaper, I thought it was for next year,” he said. “But when I noticed it was for this (season), I couldn’t believe it. We already have two losses (in league), and I was thinking we may not make the playoffs. You just don’t make changes like that in mid-season.”

Another talented team that appears in jeopardy of missing the playoffs because of the measure is St. Bernard, which is 4-4 in Mission League play. But the Vikings are only 8-12 overall.

Jim McClune, basketball coach and athletic director at St. Bernard, said the decision caught him by surprise.

“It would’ve been nice to know a little earlier,” he said. “Two weeks ago, we had a (Mission League) athletic directors meeting and it didn’t even come up. I had no idea it was even on the agenda to make a change like this. It was kind of amazing to learn of something like that two weeks before the end of the league season.”

McClune understands the intent of the rule because his team played an 0-23 Mayfair squad in the first round of the playoffs three seasons ago. But he worries that the Vikings, who have won their last four conference games, could miss the playoffs.

Mira Costa is another team that could miss the playoffs. The Mustangs are 14-6 but are only 1-3 and tied for last place in the five-team Ocean League.

“If somebody ends up finishing fourth with a large number of wins in a five- or six-team league, I think it would be unreasonable to exclude them from the playoffs,” he said. “I don’t think that was the spirit of what this decision was meant to do.”

Serra Coach Dwan Hurt said his team might not have made the playoffs last season had the rule been in effect. The Cavaliers finished in a tie for fourth in the six-team Camino Real League but reached the Division IV-A finals.

“That would have posed a problem for me last season because of all of the adversity we had to go through just to get to that point,” Hurt said.

Hurt probably won’t have to worry this season because Serra is 13-7.

Is the Morningside boys’ basketball team gearing up for another title run?

The Monarchs were 8-6 last season before winning their last 17 games to win the State Division III title.

Morningside struggled early this season but has won seven in a row to improve to 18-4.

“We’re starting to play well,” Coach Carl Franklin said. “We had a nice win over Artesia, and beating Inglewood the other day was really nice.”

The Monarchs are ranked 11th in the latest Cal-Hi Sports News poll. They are ranked first in Division III.

But Franklin doesn’t want to look past the Ocean League season.

“As coaches, we tend to peak ahead a little, but I don’t want to do that,” he said. “I will say that I think we’re on the right track. We’re right where we want to be.”

Notes

San Pedro saw its hopes of another City title disappear in a loss Tuesday to Monroe in the 4-A Division boys’ soccer semifinals. The teams were tied after regulation play and two 10-minute overtimes, but Monroe advanced on penalty kicks, 4-3. San Pedro, which won the 3-A title in football in December and the City softball and baseball titles in June, finished 12-2-1 and reached the semifinals for the third season in a row. . . . The Morningside girls’ basketball team has moved from 11th to 10th on this week’s Cal-Hi Sports News poll. St. Bernard also made the poll at No. 20.

South Bay Boys’ Basketball Top 10 Selected by Times Sportswriters Through Tuesday’s Games Rank, School, League: Record 1 Morningside (Ocean): 18-4 2 Bishop Montgomery (Mission): 15-2 3 Westchester (Metro): 13-5

4 Serra (Camino Real): 12-7

5 Peninsula (Bay): 13-6

6 South Torrance (Pioneer): 17-2

7 Inglewood (Bay): 11-9

8 Carson (Southern): 11-6

9 Redondo (Ocean): 11-8

10 Leuzinger (Bay): 11-8