|
|
 |
Friday
March 19, 2010 Since 1922 |
Tiebreakers favor Gander playoff bid
By Dave Rogers
At least if you can’t be West Brook (6-0) and Humble (5-1) and already have a spot wrapped up.
Lee, Kingwood, Channelview and Port Arthur Memorial are all tied for third place with 3-3 league records with one game remaining.
Lee and Kingwood rate the edge because they own wins over two of the other three teams.
Lee beat Kingwood 38-0 and Port Arthur 29-23, losing to Channelview 23-8. Kingwood beat Port Arthur 42-34 and Channelview 40-30. Port Arthur beat Channelview 24-21 in the other game between the four.
Friday, Lee plays at seventh-place Atascocita and Kingwood takes on eighth-place Sterling in Baytown. Channelview hosts West Brook. Saturday, in a game likely to be moot for playoff consideration, Humble hosts Port Arthur.
If the higher ranked teams all win this weekend, that would leave Lee and Kingwood tied for third and headed to the playoffs.
Technically, Lee would claim third because of its win over Kingwood. Really, that’s all academic since Kingwood would go to the playoffs as the No. 2 big school and Lee as the No. 2 small school, based on their enrollment.
But Channelview upset West Brook last year, so District 21-5A wanted to brace for all eventualities.
That’s why District Executive Committee chairman Trey Kraemer spent Monday and Tuesday exchanging phone calls and emails with athletic directors and principals at other 21-5A schools.
“We wanted to make sure we have our ducks in a row and that when we certify (playoff teams) this weekend, we certify properly and are ready to roll,” Kraemer said.
District 21-5A employs head-to-head tie-breakers whenever possible. The league bylaws said when this is not possible, as in a three-way tie when each team is 1-1 against the others, it uses a point-spread system with a maximum of 18 points per game.
Where some confusion arises is the fact that 21-5A does not discount for the points a team loses by. Only its winning margins count, up to 18, per game.
Also, there was a dispute about whether or not the point-spread totals were applied to the remaining two teams in a three-way tie after the first team had been identified. It was decided the second spot in such a three-way would be decided by head to head records.
That put to rest a scenario in which Channelview had the second most points in a possible tie with Lee and Kingwood and stood to advance over Kingwood, a team that beat Channelview earlier.
There are a total of nine possible combinations of four- and three-way ties with each team figuring in seven of them.
Lee advances in six of the seven tie-breaker cases it can face.
The only way it doesn’t go is if Kingwood wins and Lee, Channelview and Port Arthur all lose, creating a three-way tie for the final spot. Channelview, with its 15-point win, would trump Lee, which beat Port Arthur by six, and Port Arthur, which beat Channelview by three.
Of course, if the Ganders lose and two or more teams win, they’re done. All the teams can say that.
And if any only two of the four tied teams win, they’re in the playoffs.
In its seven tie-breaker scenarios, Kingwood advances out of five of them. The Mustangs lose out in three-way ties for fourth with Lee and Channelview and with Port Arthur and Channelview.
Channelview has two winning tie-breaker scenarios, third- or fourth-place ties with Lee and Port Arthur.
Port Arthur, meanwhile, has one chance, a three-way tie for third with Channelview and Kingwood.
“The bottom line,” Goose Creek athletic director Tom Ed Gooden said, “is if Lee wins, they’re in the playoffs.”
At least if you can’t be West Brook (6-0) and Humble (5-1) and already have a spot wrapped up.
Lee, Kingwood, Channelview and Port Arthur Memorial are all tied for third place with 3-3 league records with one game remaining.
Lee and Kingwood rate the edge because they own wins over two of the other three teams.
Lee beat Kingwood 38-0 and Port Arthur 29-23, losing to Channelview 23-8. Kingwood beat Port Arthur 42-34 and Channelview 40-30. Port Arthur beat Channelview 24-21 in the other game between the four.
Friday, Lee plays at seventh-place Atascocita and Kingwood takes on eighth-place Sterling in Baytown. Channelview hosts West Brook. Saturday, in a game likely to be moot for playoff consideration, Humble hosts Port Arthur.
If the higher ranked teams all win this weekend, that would leave Lee and Kingwood tied for third and headed to the playoffs.
Technically, Lee would claim third because of its win over Kingwood. Really, that’s all academic since Kingwood would go to the playoffs as the No. 2 big school and Lee as the No. 2 small school, based on their enrollment.
But Channelview upset West Brook last year, so District 21-5A wanted to brace for all eventualities.
That’s why District Executive Committee chairman Trey Kraemer spent Monday and Tuesday exchanging phone calls and emails with athletic directors and principals at other 21-5A schools.
“We wanted to make sure we have our ducks in a row and that when we certify (playoff teams) this weekend, we certify properly and are ready to roll,” Kraemer said.
District 21-5A employs head-to-head tie-breakers whenever possible. The league bylaws said when this is not possible, as in a three-way tie when each team is 1-1 against the others, it uses a point-spread system with a maximum of 18 points per game.
Where some confusion arises is the fact that 21-5A does not discount for the points a team loses by. Only its winning margins count, up to 18, per game.
Also, there was a dispute about whether or not the point-spread totals were applied to the remaining two teams in a three-way tie after the first team had been identified. It was decided the second spot in such a three-way would be decided by head to head records.
That put to rest a scenario in which Channelview had the second most points in a possible tie with Lee and Kingwood and stood to advance over Kingwood, a team that beat Channelview earlier.
There are a total of nine possible combinations of four- and three-way ties with each team figuring in seven of them.
Lee advances in six of the seven tie-breaker cases it can face.
The only way it doesn’t go is if Kingwood wins and Lee, Channelview and Port Arthur all lose, creating a three-way tie for the final spot. Channelview, with its 15-point win, would trump Lee, which beat Port Arthur by six, and Port Arthur, which beat Channelview by three.
Of course, if the Ganders lose and two or more teams win, they’re done. All the teams can say that.
And if any only two of the four tied teams win, they’re in the playoffs.
In its seven tie-breaker scenarios, Kingwood advances out of five of them. The Mustangs lose out in three-way ties for fourth with Lee and Channelview and with Port Arthur and Channelview.
Channelview has two winning tie-breaker scenarios, third- or fourth-place ties with Lee and Port Arthur.
Port Arthur, meanwhile, has one chance, a three-way tie for third with Channelview and Kingwood.
“The bottom line,” Goose Creek athletic director Tom Ed Gooden said, “is if Lee wins, they’re in the playoffs.”