New Seeding Format Hits Home for Some

In the past, girls’ basketball league champions were automatically granted first-round home playoff games, third-place teams packed for road games against those league champions and second-place teams faced each other after flipping a coin to determine the home team.

It will be a much different situation tonight when postseason play begins with opening-round games in divisions II-A and IV-AA and wild-card contests in all others. First-round play in the eight other divisions is scheduled for Saturday.

Playoff brackets were seeded with more attention on strength of schedule than to league finish.

Some league champions are on the road, while teams finishing as low as fourth have been granted home games and high seedings.

“I think I like this format a lot better,” said Burroughs Coach Doug Nicol, whose team finished third in the Foothill League.

Burroughs (16-8) will host Dos Pueblos (8-15) tonight in a Division II-A first-round game.

Moorpark, which last season advanced to its first section final before falling to nine-time champion Brea Olinda, hosts Paso Robles (11-10) in another II-A game.

Moorpark (21-3), seeded second behind Bishop Amat, could face Burroughs in the second round. Nationally ranked Brea Olinda, the state’s No. 1 team, is now in Division II-AA.

Louisville is another team that benefited from the new format.

The Royals (15-6) finished fourth in the Mission League but were seeded fourth in Division IV-AA. Tonight, they host Rosamond, the fourth-place team from the High Desert League.

La Reina (7-10), third place in the Tri-Valley League, travels to Paraclete (17-5), second in the High Desert League, for another IV-AA opener. Paraclete is seeded third in the division.

Two Division I-AA teams from the region were forced to play wild-card games despite finishing second in their respective leagues.

Highland (18-5) will make its first postseason appearance tonight when it hosts Santa Monica. The winner advances to a first-round matchup Saturday at top-seeded Crescenta Valley (22-2).

Highland Coach Tim Knight was disappointed with the low seeding.

“According to the CIF, we must be the 32nd seed,” said Knight, whose team routed Golden League champion Palmdale, 54-29, last week to end the Falcons’ 39-game league winning streak.

“One way to look at it, though, is that it gives us a better chance to win our first playoff game ever.”

Glendale, which lost three of its last four games, finished tied with Muir for second place in the Pacific League. The Dynamiters (15-10) play at Alhambra, with the winner traveling to second-seeded Peninsula.

In other wild-card games:

Cate travels to AGBU of Canoga Park, Milken plays at Thacher and Oakwood hosts Bloomington Christian in Division V-AA contests.