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SOC may blossom with seeds By Greg Stiles One of the first schools to be helped, or hindered, by the new seeding procedure for the Class 4A boys and girls state basketball tournaments adopted Monday figures to be Crater High. Crater has been the state runner-up two of the past three years and figures to be a major player for at least the next two years. Coach David Heard wasn�t sure whether to be overjoyed or dismayed. The Oregon School Activities Association�s executive board went along with the Oregon Coaches Association proposal to seed the state tournament teams from 1 to 16, so that the No. 1 team plays the No. 16 team in the first round, 2 plays 15, 3 plays 14 and so on. This was adopted primarily because too often in recent years, two of the top four or five teams have met in the first round of a 16-team bracket drawn up months before the tournament. That takes some of the wind out of the tournament�s excitement and has an impact on the gate receipts. "It will be good for us the next two years," Heard said Tuesday. "I like it because it increases the chances of the best four teams being in the final four. When I first started coaching seven years ago, I don�t think it would�ve been to our benefit. Now, I think we�re to the point where it will help." South Medford boys basketball coach Dennis Murphy presented the proposal for the coach�s association. He said specific criteria will be developed once the committees are formed." During much of the 1990s, the only seeding was done by league power ratings based on performance during the state playoffs and tournaments. Only in the past three years � largely because Crater�s success and recent runs by North Medford and Ashland � has the Southern Oregon Conference champion avoided poor draws in the first round. Now it will be up to the 16 teams qualifying for the boys tournament at Memorial Coliseum and the girls playing at the Chiles Center to demonstrate to a five-person committee that they�re worthy of a significant seed. And therein lies one of Heard�s worries. For the past 10 years, Oregon�s elite teams have been involved in national tournaments during December. That can do a lot of good things for the state�s reputation, but it can also mean a 19-5 record instead of 23-1. Crater has been invited to the Tournament of Champions in Chicago, featuring 32 nationally-ranked teams, Dec. 7-9. It is also scheduled to play a tournament in the Bay Area, featuring powerful Amador Valley of Pleasanton, Calif. "We�re going to be playing some real quality teams," Heard says. "In fact, the schedule is brutal. How are those people going to know if Reno is ranked No. 1 in Nevada or how good Amador is? "I will be anxious to see how it pans out, though. I really think if you�re going to be a top-five team, it�s going to be good for your team." At least, you won�t be seeing a matchup similar to last year, when Springfield � a top contender � met eventual champion Westview in the first round. And more than likely, you won�t see a highly anticipated clash in the semifinals, followed by a ho-hum championship game. That was the case when Jefferson and Jesuit collided in the boys semifinals last year. Heard says the advantage for lesser seeds is that they will have a fair chance in consolation play � assuming a top seed doesn�t get knocked off. "You�re not going to be playing a Westview or Springfield in the second game. You�ll have a chance of winning." The coaches choosing the boys committee are: Murphy, Ken Harris of Sunset, Dennis Burke of Canby, Larry Gahr of McNary and Mike George of Marshfield. Tom Welter, assistant executive director of the OSAA, is also part of the group. The coaches choosing the girls committee are: Luke Roth of Sheldon, Gary Lavender of Lake Oswego, Kathy Adelman-Naro of Jesuit, Jack Sharp of Klamath Union and Marlo Cleary of McNary. Robyn Sharp, an assistant executive director of the OSAA, also is in the group. Murphy said athletic directors throughout the state will have applications for anyone interested in applying for the committees. He said the committee should be in place by the end of October. Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA