Reseda Falls Victim to Imperfect Process

It seems to happen every season, in nearly every sport: High school teams worthy of a playoff berth get the shaft because of a quirk in the system or other reasons.

The most prominent Valley victim of this season’s basketball pairings is the Reseda girls’ team, which was excluded Saturday morning when the City Section seeding committee decided that San Pedro, winless in conference play, would get the last 3-A Division spot because it plays in a tougher conference than any of the other eligible teams.

Reseda finished 6-10 overall and 4-6 in the Valley Pac-8 Conference; San Pedro was 5-11, 0-10 in the Southern Pacific Conference.

“And I’m the one that has to call [Reseda Coach] Bob Wallace and tell him,” said Poly Coach Lou Goodman, who represented fellow East Valley League member Reseda at the meeting.

Other Valley schools were more fortunate.

In the girls’ 4-A Division, North Hollywood (21-3, 10-0) is seeded No. 5 and will play host to El Camino Real (14-2, 8-2) in the first round on Friday.

The winner would likely meet Banning (20-5, 7-3) in the quarterfinals, but the prospect doesn’t seem to bother North Hollywood Coach Rich Allen.

“You’re not gonna escape,” Allen said.

“You have to play good teams in the 4-A. Banning is very similar to us.”

Kennedy (22-3, 10-0), which lost to North Hollywood in overtime this season, is seeded No. 7 and will play host to Dorsey (15-10, 4-6), last year’s City 3-A champion.

Grant (16-8, 7-3) will travel to No. 3 Palisades (23-1, 10-0).

In the girls’ 3-A Division, Poly (11-9, 8-2), which lost to Reseda Friday, is seeded No. 7 and will play host to Fairfax (14-8, 6-4). No. 8 Sherman Oaks CES (16-5, 10-1) and No. 9 Birmingham (11-4, 6-4) will face each other and Granada Hills (8-8, 5-5) will travel to play No. 3 Hamilton (15-5, 7-3).

Five boys’ teams from the region gained berths in the 4-A Division. Last season, none of the four 4-A teams from the region made it out of the first round, but one team from the region is guaranteed to advance to the quarterfinals this season.

No. 8 Canoga Park (15-10, 7-3) and No. 9 Kennedy (12-10, 7-3) will face off in what could be the closest first-round game in the division.

Cleveland (19-6, 7-3) will travel to Carson (14-12, 6-4), Monroe (9-14, 6-4) is headed to No. 2 Westchester (21-4, 10-0) and Taft (13-10, 4-6) will travel to top-seeded Crenshaw (18-3, 10-0).

In the boys’ 3-A Division, three of the top five seeded teams are from the region.

Sylmar (14-9, 8-2), seeded No. 3, will play host to Huntington Park (10-12, 7-9).

No. 4 Birmingham (17-7, 8-2) will face University (5-15, 2-8) and No. 5 Poly (17-7, 8-2) will play host to Roosevelt (17-9, 9-7).

San Fernando (12-12, 6-4) is at No. 6 San Pedro (11-9, 5-5) and Granada Hills travels to No. 2 Eagle Rock (21-4, 14-0).