Now that there are four teams going to the state tournament in each class, there are more teams getting to enjoy that state tournament feeling. Really? There would be sixteen teams in the four-class system; the same number as there are currently. The difference is that the teams there would now be spread out as far as enrollments are concerned. Gone is the worry of having the bigger Class A teams all competing in the state tournament and the same with Class AA.
�If you have eight Class A teams at the state tournament, most of the time you'll have seven or eight teams there what would now probably be now 2A schools,� said Kewanee boys basketball coach Eric Long. �Last year, Liberty would have been the only team in that lower class. It�s a good thing for those schools 250 and under because they are going to have a more even representation in Peoria. If your one of those schools, you like that news.�
For the 2004-05 school year with a 755 student cutoff line, the biggest team in the Class A State Volleyball Tournament was private Wheaton St. Francis (724) with the smallest being Hartsburg-Emden (82). In the Class AA State Volleyball Tournament it was Winnetka New Trier (3,598) with the smallest being Crystal Lake Prairie Ridge (1,553).
In the Class A State Girls Basketball Tournament it was private Belleville Althoff (687) with the smallest being private Sterling Newman (233). In the Class AA State Girls Basketball Tournament it was Gurnee Warren (3,627) with the smallest being private Oak Park Fenwick (1,159).
In the Class A State Boys Basketball Tournament it was Breese Central (599) with the smallest being Liberty (185). In the Class AA State Boys Basketball Tournament it was Downers Grove South (3,237) with the smallest being Lincoln (960).
In the Class A State Baseball Tournament it was private Woodstock Marian (730) with the smallest being Auburn (294). In the Class AA State Baseball Tournament it was Lockport (3,297) with the smallest being private Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin (781).
In the Class A State Softball Tournament it was Nashville (547) with the smallest being Beecher (300). In the Class AA State Softball Tournament it was Lockport with the smallest being Chatham Glenwood (1,270).
But there have been years that smaller schools have gone on to wonderful tournament success. Take Boys Basketball for example. In the past 15 years, there have been six schools with enrollments under 400 that have won the state championship in Class A: Pleasant Plains in 2002 and 2000, Navoo-Colusa in 1998, Warsaw in 1997, Staunton in 1993 and the now-defunct Findlay in 1992. In 1973, the now-defunct Ridgeway won a championship beating Maple Park Kaneland in the finals. Let�s not forget about Alden-Hebron in 1952, as well as Johnston City in 1929. Cobden, Bridgeport, Atwood, Ohio and Mount Carroll (twice) also took second place at one time; the only two of those that are still in existence are Cobden and Ohio.
Maybe the same can�t be said for the other sports, but it seems in basketball there may not be as much of a change needed, which is one point of Geneseo boys basketball coach Brad Storm�s argument against class expansion.
"I can see where class expansion for some other sports might be beneficial and desired. Within that concept, I think the concept of 4 classes for basketball was also pushed through,� Storm said. �Had basketball been kept separate from baseball, softball, and volleyball for 4 classes, I think it would have been better. Schools should have been able to vote for expansion on those sports, but whether or not to also expand basketball. I think that would not have passed - but because so many coaches of those other sports were for expansion, principals and ADs voted for it."
The best argument for the new state tournament format is going to be the one-game-per-day concept. Currently, teams play semi-final games on the same day of state championship games. A team will play a semi-final game at 11:00 AM and have four-or-five hours until the championship game. In the 2004 Class A Softball State Tournament, this issue came into play. Rock Falls lost to Warrensburg-Latham in 20 innings in a four-hour game that started at 10:00 AM. They only had three-and-a-half hours to prepare for their third place game against Nashville.
�One good thing might be not playing the final two games on the same day,� Galesburg Athletics Director Ralph Henning said. �I don�t think too many states do that." |
