New hoops plan has local winners, losers

The WIAA submitted a new layout for the WIAA basketball postseason Monday, which would divide schools into five divisions and re-distribute the wealth a bit when it comes to the state tournament. Each division will get four participants at the annual Madison gathering, which is sure to frustrate Division 1 teams used to 8 representatives in the current model and sure to elate smaller schools that will gain a greater competitive balance.

The governing body of state high school athletics released tentative sectionals under the proposal, and there is reason to believe local basketball programs would be disappointed with the new layout, which could be implemented as soon as the 2011 postseason barring a June vote of the WIAA Board of Control.

Some losers

Pewaukee – It’s tough enough playing in Pewaukee’s current Division 2 sectional, which includes heavy hitters Wisconsin Lutheran, New Berlin Eisenhower, Whitefish Bay, Catholic Memorial and others. Consider how it would look in the new layout: those teams plus Whitefish Bay, Wauwatosa East, Milwaukee Washington, Nicolet and Milwaukee Pius XI. For the Pirates, that’s a very tough road to hoe on the boys side. On the girls side, it’s marginally easier, though Pius and Eisenhower have both produced superb teams over the past few seasons. The Pirates have developed an excellent basketball program and should feel elite enough to reach state each season – this definitely makes that quest tougher. Even in the difficult sectional, the Pewaukee boys reached the sectional final last year before losing to Wisconsin Lutheran (pictured), the eventual champs.

The Milwaukee Area – Fans of Milwaukee City Conference boys basketball will be dismayed to see every Division 1 school in the same sectional, battling for the same spot at state. The litany of traditional powerhouses such as Hamilton, King, Vincent and Bradley Tech have occasionally appeared in separate D1 sectionals, but with only four D1 sectionals, it’s hard to imagine geography allowing that to happen again. Of course, many will point out that City teams seldom bring strong attendance to the state-tourney games, and a lack of those teams in Madison will probably make the WIAA a financial winner. Many Waukesha County programs appear in a different sectional, however.

Division 1 – The biggest schools will say they represent a larger population of high school students and thus deserve more representation at state. They also represent the highest quality of basketball and are likely to bring in larger fan bases at state (though those points are at least debatable). It might be true, but this layout treats every school as equal. If the plan passes, the bigger schools will simply have fewer opportunities to reach state than they have had in the past.



Some winners

St. John’s – The Division 3 and Division 4 pool of schools represent 50 percent of schools in the enrollment category of 200 to 600 students. That pool is divided in half to form these two divisions, and this represents a jump down for the Lancers, who play in Division 2 against some of the aforementioned tough schools in Pewaukee’s sectional presently. There will be plenty of talented programs in D3, such as perennial powers Racine St. Catherine and Whitefish Bay Dominican, but for a St. John’s team that should return the majority of its talent, it’s a move away from several challenging D2 schools.

Private schools – Initial versions of the plan called for modifications for private schools, which would be forced to “play up” a division if fitting certain circumstances. Several local private schools, including Catholic Memorial, would suddenly be facing schools well more than twice their size. With language addressing private schools removed from this version, those programs can breathe a little easier – their enrollment figures will be taken at face value if the plan passes.

The rest of the state – The bottom line is that every school will have to win the same number of games to reach state, and that’s going to sit well with a lot of people and probably contribute to this plan’s passing. Without the complication of the “private school issue” that’s sure to get examined again, the plan is straightforward and offers digestible modifications, in contrast to the complex “district” concept presented in football. The plan will likely be warmly received by everyone except those in Division 1, who figure to lose a previous advantage.