Determining the sites for boys and girls playoff basketball wasn’t the only notable change for the sport in Missouri this season. As I wrote about last week, the Missouri State High School Activities Association has decided sectionals and quarterfinals will no longer be held at predetermined sites.
Before the season began, following the lead of the National Federation of State High Schools (NFHS), the state’s governing body for prep sports also changed the rules on fouls. Instead of players shooting a one-and-one for common fouls beginning with the seventh team foul of a half, two free throws are awarded for a common foul beginning with the team’s fifth foul in each quarter. Team foul totals reset at the end of each quarter.
I wanted to wait until the season was well underway to ask coaches about the rule change so they could evaluate how it has (or hasn’t) altered the way they manage a game. It doesn’t change the fact that if your best player has two fouls in the first quarter, he or she will head to the bench.
Fouls matter. Festus beat Potosi 56-54 in the Bob Sechrest Jr. Christmas Tournament at Park Hills in part because the Tigers sank 18 of 20 free throws.
“The new way puts you in a situation where you want to foul late game, but we haven’t worked on that,” Festus head coach Dan Johnson said afterward.
The St. Pius X girls suffocated Jefferson 42-27 to win the Jefferson County Activities Association small-schools title Feb. 9, and then improved to 18-5 with a 48-9 rout of Bishop DuBourg the next day. It’s the second time during the Lancers’ five-game winning streak they’ve held a team under 10 points.
St. Pius head coach Aaron Portell said the new foul rules help his team defensively.
“In previous years, we would have had several games where we would pick up the seventh foul early in the fourth quarter and had to play less aggressively,” Portell said. “With the fouls being reset to zero at the end of the quarter, it has allowed our defense to play more aggressive throughout the game.”
Jefferson head coach Sean Breeze said he hasn’t been sure what to expect from the change. In last season’s 61-60 loss to West County in the Class 3 District 3 final, the Blue Jays missed the front end of a one-and-one that could have tied the game.
“Had the new rule been in, it would have benefited us at the time,” Breeze said. “I don’t know how I feel about it because it hasn’t affected a game for us yet. There were a few games it would have last year.”
Other changes may be coming. I did a story last year about the state adding a shot clock, which is a fixture at the professional and collegiate levels. At the time, MSHSAA spokesman Jason West said schools didn’t think it was economically feasible, with the need to add equipment and personnel to operate it. I revisited that topic after reading an NFHS story on states adding them. West said of the 571 member schools it surveyed on the idea last fall, 67.5 percent answered ‘no.’
“I am sure it will be discussed again at the basketball advisory meeting next month, but that is where the discussion currently stands,” West said.
School districts aren’t ready to absorb new costs in their athletic budgets right now. I don’t think a shot clock is necessary anyway, primarily because quarters are only eight minutes long at the varsity level. Seldom do teams set up at half-court and dribble for minutes at a time and that’s certainly not how games are played in the JCAA.
Some seeding meetings for district basketball already have been held. Let’s take a first look at the postseason and some exciting potential matchups to come.
The Crystal City boys (8-15) are the No. 4 seed in Class 2 District 4 at Valley High in Caledonia. The Hornets have won three straight games, including a 66-45 victory over league rival Herculaneum Feb. 9. Crystal plays No. 5 Bismarck (7-12) Feb. 20 at 4:30 p.m. If the Hornets win, they’ll play top-seeded St. Vincent (13-10) Feb. 22 at 6:30 p.m. The Indians finished 3-2 in the JCAA small-schools division and beat Crystal 67-29 in their January conference meeting.
Principia’s girls are the No. 1 seed in Class 2 District 4, which they will host. The Crystal City girls (2-19) are the No. 7 seed in District 4 and play No. 2 St. Vincent (10-11, 3-2) Feb. 19 at 6 p.m.
Jefferson’s boys (19-5) secured the No. 1 seed in Class 3 District 4 with a 76-53 blowout win over St. Pius X Feb. 9 (see related story) that clinched the JCAA small-schools title. The No. 2 Lancers (11-11) face seven-seed Metro (3-15) at 6 p.m. Feb. 20 at Soldan. The Blue Jays enjoy a first-round bye.
Seeding for the larger schools in Classes 4-6 will take place soon, and I’m anxious to see how the boys shake out in Class 5 District 1 at North County in Bonne Terre. That’s where De Soto, Festus and Hillsboro will play, but the team everyone is talking about is Sikeston.
As of my deadline Monday, the Bulldogs were 21-0 and a shoo-in for the top seed in District 1 after thrashing rival Cape Girardeau Central 70-47 Feb. 9. But they have serious tests remaining in the regular season, including New Madrid County Central (22-1), the defending state Class 3 champion, as well as road games at Jackson (15-7) and Father Tolton Catholic of Columbia (13-8).
Sikeston has one state basketball title in its history; the 2010-2011 Class 4 team went 30-0.
It appears that no matter how well De Soto, Festus or Hillsboro are playing when districts begin, they face near-insurmountable odds.
Meanwhile, the boys JCAA large-schools title is still up for grabs. Festus, Hillsboro and Windsor shared it last year and all three are in the running again, especially after the Owls (14-6, 4-2) dealt the Tigers (11-9, 5-2) their second consecutive conference loss Feb. 9.