By Rich Stevens
MaxPreps.com
The process for seeding the state’s boys and girls basketball sectionals has hit a snag – at least as far as one of the state’s coaches are concerned.
The system, in place for the first time, has coaches voting for teams from his/her region on a 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, etc., basis, but they can’t vote for their own teams.
After the votes are counted, the teams are split into their respective sections and each section is bracketed with the higher seed playing host in each game.
While coaches should attempt – in theory – to seed the regions fairly, anytime subjectivity is involved, things can go awry.
Pocahontas County boys basketball Coach Bob Sheets figures he knows this as well as anybody.
Although the results of the balloting are not permitted to be released until the state tournament is completed (March 14 for girls and March 21 for boys), Sheets discovered that one coach voted his team 10th out of 11 team in Class A, Region 3. The vote resulted in the Warriors being seeded second in the region, behind only Mount Hope (15-6). The Warriors are 15-5.
It means if Pocahontas County – ranked 10th in Class A – and unranked Mount Hope play in the sectional final, the Warriors will be playing on the Mustangs’ home court.
Pocahontas is in the same section with Richwood, Midland Trail, Fayetteville, Valley-Fayette and Mount Hope.
In Region 3, Section 2 is Greater Beckley Christian, Big Creek, Montcalm, Iaeger and Meadow Bridge.
This appears to be an attempt to manipulate the voting.
Still, when clear subjectivity is in play, the results can sometimes be tricky.
Girls Sectional
While the state tournament focus in recent years has been on Parkersburg South, Morgantown and Huntington, there is one school – the state’s easternmost, that is – which is expected to make some noise.
Martinsburg, fourth in the Class AAA rankings, boasts two of the top players in the Mountain State in senior forward Iesha Robinson and junior shooting guard Jacqueline Brewer.
Brewer, a transfer from Handley High in Virginia, scored more than 1,000 points in two seasons at the Winchester school.
She was featured in a Washington Post story in January of 2008 and was on pace to break virtually every Handley girls basketball record.
Brewer is averaging 21.3 points per game and Robinson is averaging 19.3.
The last eight state titles have been won by Capital (2001, 2002), South Charleston (2003, 2004), Morgantown (2005, 2007) and Parkersburg South (2006, 2008).
Only George Washington (1978-80) and Parkersburg (1987-89) have won three consecutive state titles.
More Girls Basketball: Wheeling Park’s 1998 run unlikely to be matched
One state tournament mark that will likely withstand the test of time is the one held by Wheeling Park’s 1998 state championship team.
The Patriots, who were on a quest to win the team’s first state title, became the first team in state tournament history to score 100 points when it defeated Fairmont Senior 101-84 in the finals.
No team had scored 80 points in a title game and the Patriots put up 101 against the undefeated and defending state champion Polar Bears.
The next season Park became the sixth team in state tournament history to win back-to-back titles when it defeated George Washington 69-35 in the championship game.
The Patriots were coached by Dee Davis, who guided Park to state title games in 1978 and 1980. She still holds the single-game state tournament record for points in a game when she scored 43 in a semifinal against Greenbrier East.
Rich Stevens, a sportswriter for the Charleston Daily Mail, covers West Virginia for MaxPreps.
