Because of a change to the boys and girls basketball playoff format, Jefferson College might not host a sectional or quarterfinal round for the first time in 40 years.
Citing last year’s struggle to find neutral-site venues across the state, the basketball advisory committee of the Missouri State High School Activities Association recommended, and the board of directors approved, the use of assigned-host sites this year instead of neutral sites. This is already done with the other team sports under MSHSAA’s umbrella.
As in many areas of society,
COVID-19’s lingering effects are partly to blame for the change, said Jason West, MSHSAA communications director.
“I’m not sure what direct impact would be to the (participating) schools,” West said. “In most cases there were rental fees for the (neutral) venue. Sometimes, (those sites) say it’s a fee that covers everything. Some charge a lesser fee, but the schools have to pay for security, janitors and other things.
“But one of the caveats to high schools hosting (is that), depending on the school, they may feel they might not have the capacity to host a state quarterfinals. We’re giving schools info on the last five years of sectional and quarterfinal attendance numbers.”
West said MSHSAA is requiring schools to provide their capacity figures and advises them not to overestimate.
“If you tell us your gym seats 1,500 and it only seats 1,000, you’re going to have to explain to 500 people why they can’t get in because the fire marshal won’t let them,” he warned.
West added that dropping the neutral sites came down to a combination of issues. Venues were already booked or they were short-staffed, so they couldn’t host a state event. Colleges didn’t know if they were hosting postseason games.
“The best example are last year’s sectionals and quarterfinals in the southwest part of the state,” West said. “Those teams went to Warrensburg, more than a two-and-a-half hour drive, because all of the venues were being used around (Springfield).”
So where are the playoffs? That depends on what district your school is in. Since it’s an even-numbered year, even-numbered districts will host sectionals (Class 1-4) or quarterfinals (Class 5-6). But if the host of the sectional wins and its quarterfinal opponent was on the road, that opponent will host. If both or neither team hosted, the host assignment reverts back to the even-numbered school.
County teams (boys and girls) in even-numbered districts are Crystal City (both Class 2, District 4), Herculaneum (both Class 4 District 2), Windsor boys (Class 5 District 2), Windsor girls (Class 5 District 8) and Northwest (both Class 6 District 2). Hillsboro is hosting the girls Class 5 District 1, which includes JCAA large-schools rivals
De Soto, Festus and Windsor, along with Cape Girardeau Central, Farmington, North County and Sikeston. The boys side of that district, at North County, has all the same schools, except Poplar Bluff replaces Windsor, which got booted north to District 2, lumped in with St. Louis City and County schools.
Of all the teams the Leader covers, it seems Windsor gets scattered to the wind in almost every sport, as to its district assignment, while the rest of the county teams are bundled together. Undoubtedly that’s because Windsor is the farthest north in the JCAA.
Jefferson College field house coordinator Marie Self has worked at the school for 35 years. Her title doesn’t do her justice; anyone remotely involved with Jeffco understands she’s much more than that. You could say her dedication to the college is Self-less.
“No schools have reached out (to us) yet,” Self said. “It will probably be another two weeks before I hear something. It’s kind of a 50-50 shot. I don’t know who’s going to make it forward and the size of their gym. We could get a call last-minute. If we have two or three days, we can pull it together because (MSHSAA) runs the tickets.”
Changing the playoff sites won’t have a large economic impact for
Jeffco, but it will lose out on concession revenue. MSHSAA’s decision didn’t come as a surprise to Self.
“I had already been told by the state at the end of basketball season last year and tucked it away,” she said. “I was informed this is what they were going to do. They had already made their decisions.”
Perhaps Jeffco has made up for that lost revenue with the addition of men’s basketball this winter. That’s 16 home games and in the large crowds I’ve seen, plenty were eating popcorn and drinking soda.
The thing I don’t like about the change is the quarterfinals are being split up on separate days. The boys-girls Saturday doubleheader format was perfect. I covered the Eureka and Jackson boys and girls competing in the Class 6 quarters at Jeffco last year, and the excitement after the girls game lingered well into the boys contest.
District favorites already have started mapping out where they’re going to play. But what happens when a five-seed gets hot and wins its district, and now they have to host a game two days later, something they hadn’t planned for?
“That’s when another school can step in and say, ‘Yeah, you can come here and play,’” West said.
Self is waiting for their call.
Chiefs Kingdom
With a win Sunday in Super Bowl 58 over the San Francisco 49ers in Las Vegas, the Kansas City Chiefs will cement their place in NFL history by officially becoming a dynasty.
Winning three Super Bowls in five seasons qualifies the Chiefs to join the pantheon of legendary teams in that era (1967-present). Those are Vince Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers of the 1960s, the Miami Dolphins and Pittsburgh Steelers of the 1970s, the 49ers in the 1980s, the Dallas Cowboys in the 1990s and New England Patriots in the 2000s and 2010s.
I always joke that no matter how bad my memory gets, I’ll never forget how old I am because I’m the same age as the Super Bowl. I’ll be 58 next month. Football has been a part of my life since I played in the JFL when I was 9. My parents both loved the sport and it rubbed off on me. I played for the St. Charles Spirits and we traveled south of the Meramec River more than once to play teams in Jefferson County. Our parents, mostly driving station wagons, caravanned with us piled in the back, already dressed for the game.
Fond memories. Enjoy the big game – but no taking off on Monday. When did that become a thing?