City to Refrain From Making Seedings Early : Prep playoffs: Series of blunders convinces Harkness to wait until regular season is completed to draw brackets.

After the latest in a series of foul-ups that have dogged the City Section postseason selection process for years, City Commissioner Hal Harkness said Tuesday that his office no longer will draw playoff brackets in major sports until the regular season has been completed.

Harkness said the most recent playoff seeding blunder, involving the El Camino Real boys’ basketball team, prompted him to make the decision, which will apply to basketball, football and baseball. Previously, playoffs have been mapped out on the eve of the regular-season finale.

At that time, Harkness acknowledged, many league playoff berths have not been decided. The Southern Section draws its playoff brackets after the regular season is complete.

“I inherited this process and it needs to be revised,” Harkness said. “It invites chaos.”

Chaos accurately describes the scene at El Camino Real. Last week, Coach Neils Ludlow was told by the City athletics office that the Conquistadores were assured a 3-A Division at-large playoff berth if they beat San Fernando in the regular-season finale Friday. El Camino Real won the game. “The guys were all excited,” Ludlow said. “I got up the next morning and saw the pairings in the paper. We thought we were in.”

Monday afternoon, the pairings were overhauled and El Camino Real was sent packing. Verdugo Hills, which finished tied for second with Wilson in the Northeast League, was inserted in El Camino Real’s stead. El Camino Real placed third in the North Valley League.

Wilson did not send a representative to the seeding meeting, and consequently, the City was not aware that the potential for a second-place tie existed.

Harkness acknowledged that he wanted El Camino Real in the playoff field because the Conquistadores (13-9) are considered by many to be a title contender. However, after receiving feedback and mulling the decision, he changed his mind.

“When I reflected on where I was, I realized that I was out on a limb and sawing it off right in front of me,” Harkness said. “We have to take a second-place team over a third-place team.”

As a result, 16th-seeded Verdugo Hills (7-13) will visit top-seeded Monroe (20-3) tonight at 7:30.

Along with Harkness’ vow to overhaul the timing of the seedings, the City might address other aspects of the process. When the 3-A playoff pairings were drawn, four at-large berths were available. Coaches at the seeding meeting were asked to rank the at-large teams from first through fourth. Narbonne was seeded ahead of El Camino Real.

Narbonne finished 2-8 and third in the Pacific League. The Pacific is one of two leagues in the Southern Pacific Conference, which includes highly regarded Crenshaw, Washington, Dorsey and Banning among its members.

“Record-wise, they don’t belong (in the playoffs),” Harkness said of Narbonne. “At 2-8, what are they doing there? Well, most of their losses were to superior teams.

“Is that a good enough reason (for inclusion)? That’s something we may want to look at.”

The seeding meeting, in which coaches are invited to participate and offer input, often are marked by acrimony. Harkness said it is unlikely that coaches will be excluded in the future, because the City athletics office does not keep track of league standings. The Southern Section does not use coaches in the seeding process.

The El Camino Real affair isn’t the first time teams have been shuffled in midstream. Last season, Taft won the North Valley League title. After the 4-A playoff bracket were drawn, however, Taft’s opponent was changed after a coach complained. As a result, Taft played its first-round game on the road against Westchester, which won the game and later the 4-A title for the second consecutive season.

The seeding of the girls’ 4-A division was postponed from Thursday to Saturday because many league races hinged on the outcome of Friday’s games. Harkness called the decision, “the one smart thing we did. It turned out fine.”