PREP BASKETBALL : Crenshaw, Reseda Get Top Seedings

Barbara Fiege, the City Section commissioner who took over last October, continues to make sweeping changes.

Her latest project, the basketball playoffs, was announced Saturday as Crenshaw and Reseda were named the top-seeded 4-A and 3-A boys’ teams, and Washington and Jefferson were the top-seeded 4-A and 3-A girls’ teams.

Considered the section’s premier event, the playoffs were handled differently this time.

For starters, the 16-team brackets were set after all regular-season games had been completed, reflecting more accurately how teams played at the end of the regular season. In the past, brackets were drawn before the season’s end, and changes often had to be made if there were upsets.

And for the first time in recent history, City Section coaches had little input into the pairings. Fiege’s predecessor, Hal Harkness, allowed coaches to meet and schedule their brackets. The meetings often dragged and few seemed satisfied.

This season, the Division 4-A and 3-A brackets were arranged by a committee of Fiege, four coaches and three administrators.

“It took us about four hours to finish everything, but we encountered relatively few problems,” said Fiege, formerly the athletic director at Belmont.

In another change, no team will have home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. In the past, the highest-seeded teams played at home. This season, home sites will alternate each round.

The first round begins Wednesday. The championships are scheduled for March 4 at the Sports Arena.

Despite the changes in handling the pairings, there were relatively few surprises. As expected, the Crenshaw boys, considered one of the state’s best teams, are top-seeded in 4-A. Westchester, coming off a five-point loss to Fairfax on Thursday, is seeded second.

Washington won a coin flip between Crenshaw and Carson to decide the No. 1-seeded team in the girls’ 4-A.

In 3-A, Reseda is the top-seeded boys’ team and Jefferson the top-seeded girls’ team.

Lincoln’s boys, who won the Northwest League, are ineligible for the playoffs after twice holding illegal practices during the season.