New Format Has Old Flavor

The Southern Section voted to turn back the clock this season, returning to the playoff format it used three seasons ago. Instead of having three subdivisions in Division I and one in Division III--as it did last season--there will be two subdivisions for each.

The shift has created considerable fallout. Most notably, Fullerton Troy, the Division I-A champion last season, and Ventura Buena, the team it beat in the final, have dropped into Division II-AA. Lakewood Artesia, champion of Division II-A, dropped into Division III-AA.

Van Nuys Montclair Prep, the V-AA champion, and Cypress Brethren Christian, the team it defeated, moved up in class, to Division IV-A.

Paul Castillo, the section’s assistant commissioner in charge of basketball, examined playoff teams from the last two seasons and tried to create equitable, enrollment-based subdivisions, each with about 32 teams.

Division II-AA appears to be the most loaded.

“For us, it’s always been trying to figure out where Brea is,” said Norco Coach Rick Thompson, whose team is in II-AA. “That’s the good news, we know where Brea is [Division II-A] and we don’t have to worry about them.

“The bad news is we have to figure out where six other teams are.”

San Clemente, last season’s Division I-AA champion, is in Division I-A, where the primary competition could be Newhall Hart or Huntington Beach Edison.

“Division I-AA is really tough--Lynwood, [Anaheim] Esperanza, Long Beach Wilson, [Chino Hills] Ayala--we fell through the cracks,” said Mary Mulligan, San Clemente’s coach. “Let’s just say I’m very excited about the opportunities in I-A.”

Some notable teams by division:

Division I-AA (2,066 enrollment and above): Ayala, Diamond Bar, Rialto Eisenhower, Esperanza, Lynwood, Palmdale, Long Beach Poly.

Division I-A (1,700-2,065): Edison, Hart, San Clemente, Westminster.

Division II-AA (1,526-1,699): Buena, Corona Centennial, Placentia El Dorado, Huntington Beach, Norco, Santa Barbara, Saugus, Simi Valley, Troy, Ventura, Irvine Woodbridge.

Division II-A (1,351-1,525): Brea Olinda, Santa Ana Mater Dei, North Torrance, Redondo Beach Redondo Union, Santa Margarita.

Division III-AA (1,081-1,350): Artesia, La Puente Bishop Amat, Newbury Park, Lake Arrowhead Rim of the World.

Division III-A (706-1,080): Torrance Bishop Montgomery, Inglewood Morningside, Pasadena Muir, Fullerton Rosary, Santa Ynez.

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Rousing debut: Krissy Duperron’s first game as coach at North Torrance wasn’t exactly what she expected. Duperron, who graduated from UC Irvine in June, watched her players beat L.A. Price, 110-7, in the first round of the Mayfair-Bellflower tournament.

“I was really nervous before the game,” said Duperron, who was on a Woodbridge team that won state titles in 1995 and 1996.

She quickly learned there was no reason for anxiety.

“I kind of wanted the game to end, wanted to make sure my girls were respectful on the bench. I still want everyone to be classy, and they were.”

The teams played with a running clock in the second half, played mostly by reserves.

North Torrance, which reached the section II-AA final last season, has four starters back, including senior forward Julia Pitts.

Duperron replaced her father as coach. Gary Duperron now coaches the North Torrance boys’ team.

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At least they read: Norco, ranked No. 12 in The Times’ preseason top 25 and the best team in the Inland Empire, was toppled by Edison, 60-40, in its opener, despite freshman Erika Arriaran’s 23 points.

“[The players] read how good we should be and forgot to go play the game,” Thompson said.

Edison, under new Coach Corey Kelly, was led by the Ziemann twins, Rachael and Bianca, but Thompson was impressed with their supporting cast.

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Rim shots: Playa del Rey St. Bernard opened the season in the South Torrance Shootout ranked 18th by The Times, but the Vikings were without their top player, Alexis Kendricks, and lost to the host school, 49-35. Kendricks was out of the lineup because of the death of a grandparent. St. Bernard lost its first two games.... One of the best tournaments in Southern California started Monday at Brea Olinda. Quarterfinals are Wednesday, semifinals Thursday and the championship round is Saturday. Seven of the Times’ top 25 teams are in the 16-team field, including five of the top seven: Harbor City Narbonne, Artesia, San Clemente, Redondo Union and Brea.