Sussex County Sports Blog

By Dan Cleary

2/8/2010 - Clearing Up Tourney Questions

This school year has brought so much change to the landscape of local high school athletics that it will take some time to digest all that has happened.

From realignment to the newly-formed Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex Athletic Association, this has been a history-making few months. And with that change comes some confusion about how the new leagues are run and qualification for the state tournament with expanded brackets.

So with the state tournament cutoff for boys and girls hoops having come and gone last Saturday and seeds for the upcoming H/W/S basketball tournament due today, I thought I would try to addresses some questions some people may have about the expanded brackets and the new tri-county hoops tourney.

In this blog I will discuss the state tournament and I will follow-up with a blog on the H/W/S tourney, so stay tuned.

It has come to my attention that several schools did not fully understand how the expanded brackets work in hoops. There were some coaches who thought that you still needed a .500 or better record to qualify if there weren’t enough teams to fill out an eight-team bracket.

Not true.

Here is the skinny right from the mouth of Steve Timko, the top man at the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association.

“All .500 teams are eligible and all of the rest of the non-.500 teams can request entry up to 16 teams in each section,” Timko told me. “The purpose is for schools which now play in tougher divisions and conferences due to the realignment to still have an opportunity to play in the tournament. Our goal is to encourage everyone to try and enter the tournament.”

Timko added that the expanded brackets, which are a pilot program this year in several sports, were very successful during the fall season and he said there were several upsets, including four No. 15 seeds knocking off No. 2 seeds in soccer and field hockey.

I’m on the record in saying that I think the expanded brackets are a great idea, although some 1 versus 16 matchups in hoops could be ugly, but you never know.

As I have stated in the past, there is no such thing as a true upset in high school sports because you are dealing with high school kids and there are just so many variables.

So does that clear up the brackets? I hope so. In short, the top 16 teams by record in each section are eligible for state tourney play in hoops if they have sent their intent form to the NJSIAA stating they want in if they finish in the top 16.

Now here is something else that is new to state qualification. In years past, schools would submit their entry request to the state with a team’s record, scores and opponent’s name and group size.

This school year, seeding has been based on records and games submitted to nj.com, The Star-Ledger’s web site. So the responsibility of keeping a team’s record straight on the website falls on the respective head coach.

This accomplishes a couple of things. First, it is a big boost for the website, and good for them. The Ledger has partnered with the NJSIAA over the years, so it is no surprise the two have joined forces once again.

Secondly, it allows fans to keep track of where their school stands with a couple of clicks of a mouse. In years past, it was almost impossible to keep up on teams out of the area. Not anymore, and I think that is great not only for the coaches but fans and the media.

So I browsed the website after the cutoff, and if all the info is correct, 10 boys teams and 10 girls teams are in the top 16 in their section for possibly an unprecedented 20 local teams in the state tournament.

I say possibly because the rankings are not official yet. The seeding meeting for hoops is later this week. Plus, North Warren's girls team is tied for 16^th with Kinnelon and we will have to wait to see if the Pats get in on a tiebreaker.

That is impressive even with the expanded brackets.

On the boys side, in North 1, Group1 George Davenport’s Sussex Tech Mustangs are sitting at No. 13 with an 8-9 record. Great job by Davenport and his gang to almost make it with a .500 mark.

In North 1, Group 2, Hopatcong is sitting at No. 1 with a 14-5 mark, while Wallkill Valley (8-10, 10^th), Lenape Valley (7-11, 13^th) and Kittatinny (6-10, 14^th) are all in the tourney if all the info is correct.

In North 1, Group 3, Jefferson is fifth is at 13-5 and hard-charging Sparta is No. 9 at 9-7. What a great job by the Spartans to make the states with a .500 record. They were sitting at 2-6 at one point, but Brian Brennan has done a great job getting his club on track and the Spartans have won six straight.

And how about the Wildcats from High Point? Bill Percey has them playing some good ball right now and they are sitting at No. 14 with an 8-11 mark.

Vernon, which I feel has been the top team in the area this season, is at No. 9 in North 1, Group 4 with a 9-7 mark. The Vikings’ record is extremely deceiving as they have played by far the toughest schedule of anyone around.

Hopefully that tough competition will pay off in the states as the Vikes look to win consecutive state games for the first time in school history. Vernon knocked off Memorial of West New York last year to win its first state game since 1979.

In the always brutal Non-Public North A, Pope John, which posted a nice win over Fort Lee the other day and owns a victory over Vernon, is at No. 14 with its 7-9 mark. If the Lions do indeed get in, they will have their work cut out for them in this meat grinder of a section.

Onto the girls. In North 1, Group 1, the Mustangs of Sussex Tech are ranked 15^th right now with a 5-13 mark, so they will have to wait and see if that holds up. If it does, I’m pretty sure it would be the first time both the boys and girls teams from Tech will make the states in the same season.

In North 1, Group 2, Wallkill Valley, which should have Ashley Napovier (injured finger) back for the stretch run, is currently fifth at 13-5. With a healthy Napovier, the Rangers are poised to make another run at a berth in the section final.

Newton, which has been solid all year for coach Bridget Jones, is sitting in the No. 13 position at 7-9. Kittatinny is at No. 14 at 7-9 and as I mentioned before, North Warren is on the fence.

So Newton, Kittatinny and North Warren will have to wait and see if they officially made the cut. Let’s hope so.

In North 1, Group 3, one of the toughest sections in the state, High Point is ranked fourth at 15-3, while Fred Geffken has his Spartans in the states for an amazing 30^th straight season as they are ranked ninth at 9-7.

Jefferson has bumped up to Group 3 this season and Jimmy O’Connor’s Falcons were 13-2 at the cutoff and ranked fifth.

Billy Foley’s Vernon squad has been the surprise team in the area and the Vikings are sitting at 13-4 and are currently ranked second in North 1, Group 4. The Vikings should get a home game and that is a great compliment to Foley and the gun-slinging Vikings.

Pope John, which has had an up-and-down year, is 6-8 and will be a very dangerous No. 14 seed if that ranking holds up in North Non-Public A.

So if the rankings currently on the website are correct, there will be plenty of hoops to be played in the area come state time and that is great.

Once again, I must stress that only the teams with .500 records are guaranteed a spot in the tourney and the rest will have to wait and see after the seeding meeting later this week. If all 20 teams get in then we will have our own version of March Madness come March 1.

That’s it for now, see you on the sidelines.

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Sussex County Sports Blog

By Dan Cleary

2/8/2010 - Clearing Up Tourney Questions