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When it took so long this past year to formulate a new reclassification and district plan, it limited the efforts of athletic directors to set up their schedules in a timely manner. Once the Southwest Conference dipped to six schools (five in football this fall), it really put teams in a bind as they searched to fill out their Class 6A schedules. In order to fill out the boys and girls basketball schedules, SWC athletic directors had a choice to make: Evoke three-game league matchups or lean on each other to balance the slate. The winter sports season begins Wednesday. “Obviously we don’t want to play each other three times in league and with the shrinking of our league, that was a real possibility,” said South Medford AD Tim Rupp on Monday. “I know in the past we’ve played three times but nobody wanted to do that, and we were struggling because games are hard to find.” The solution? Most, but not all, SWC boys and girls basketball teams will be playing two conference foes on a nonleague basis to help fill the bill. “Most of us are doing it, but not all of us have two games,” said Rupp. “We tried to make them good matchups, but when you’re down to five league opponents and only play them twice, that means 14 nonleague games you’ve got to try and fill your schedule with, and that’s not easy.” The “nonleague” SWC matchups will occur around the second week in January, just after most teams have returned from winter tournaments and breaks, and prior to the start of the regular conference season. “Once we get after Christmas break, all the other leagues are so big so they’re basically in league play,” said Rupp, “so to try and put a (nonconference) game or two (against SWC teams) in that time period, that was the easiest and most convenient way that worked for everybody. We didn’t want to have a whole extra week off from playing so we decided these nonleague games would help.” Rupp said that time period has historically been an issue anyway, with teams unwilling to travel to the Rogue Valley in early January, and often unable to due to weather conditions. “Basketball is the hardest to schedule,” said Rupp. “Baseball and softball already play three times and football this year was hard, too, with the smaller league, but I’ve got to give kudos to people up north to not just play league games and schedule us in like they did. But when you’re talking about 24 games when you only have 10 league games set, basketball is basically the hardest.” The SWC last utilized a three-game setup during the 2013-14 basketball season, and that went over like a lead balloon that Rupp said no one wants to revisit. As for the basketball coaches, North Medford boys coach Scott Plankenhorn said it’s just a matter of trying to make things as fair as possible and keep teams competitive moving forward. “Obviously we’d like to not have those extra nonleague games, but when you can’t get games, you can’t get games,” said Plankenhorn. “That was the way to fill in to get us a couple games (rather) than go back to playing each other three times. I don’t think that was a good way to go either because it’s not an even way to play for the conference championship.” “Someone’s getting an advantage somewhere,” he added of the potential three-game league slate. “Someone’s getting two games at home in games that matter the most, and home games in basketball are huge.” A monkey wrench in the setup, however, comes in the form of the Abby’s Holiday Classic, an annual boys basketball tournament that features games at North Medford and South Medford high schools from Dec. 27-29. North Medford and South Medford are already set to play a nonleague boys game on Jan. 8, with the Black Tornado facing Roseburg in a non-counter on Jan. 15 while the Panthers take their nonleague turn against Roseburg on Jan. 11. With Roseburg also playing in the Abby’s Holiday Classic in the quarterfinal opposite South Medford, it’s possible the Panthers and Indians will play four times this season, or for North to see one of them for four times. “Obviously for us, that’s not a perfect situation because we’re in Abby’s with both of them,” said Plankenhorn. “There’s a possibility of playing those teams four times now and that’s just not good. It’s happened before but to only play 24 games and then have four of them be against one team, that’s not ideal.” For boys, Grants Pass has teamed with Sheldon and South Eugene for nonleague games. In SWC girls basketball, South Medford will only utilize one nonleague game against Grants Pass, which will also play Sheldon three times. North Medford’s nonleague games will be against South Eugene and Roseburg. One area that does help with the scheduling changes, according to Plankenhorn, is his team’s ability to play a few more times closer to home. North Medford’s boys basketball team, the two-time defending SWC champion, only had seven home games prior to the decision — beginning with a season-opener Saturday against Central Catholic. Adding an extra home date with Roseburg and a crosstown game at South Medford will be a benefit to the Black Tornado fans. “It definitely helps us in that way because obviously our local people can come see a couple more game, which is nice,” he said. “We’ve got a doozy of a schedule already. I know that we’re going to definitely find out about ourselves this year, especially with Central Catholic right off the get-go.” Reach reporter Kris Henry at 541-776-4488, [email protected] , www.facebook.com/krishenryMT or www.twitter.com/Kris_Henry