Many basketball teams choose onegame playoff over flipping a coin.
Basketball teams can flip for playoff seeding, but many choose to decide it on the court
There is a burgeoning basketball rivalry east of Houston that is becoming one of the best in the area.
On the way to winning the Class 5A state championship last year, Port Arthur Memorial emphatically ended Barbers Hill’s playoff hopes in the bi-district round.
Then, after the most recent University Interscholastic League’s realignment, the two schools found themselves assigned to District 21-5A, where they split their two games this season by a combined four points.
Memorial and Barbers Hill finished in a tie atop the district and officially are co-champions, but someone has to be 21-5A’s top seed heading into next week’s playoffs.
What to do?
Port Arthur Memorial coach Alden Lewis and Barbers Hill coach Chris Pennington could have flipped a coin and let gravity decide, perhaps saving a little wear and tear on players and coaches in the process.
“We both kind of wanted to play,” Pennington said.
And why not a fourth a meeting in less than a year?
There may be no better preparation for the postseason than another high-stakes game between the two rivals on a neutral floor.
In football, tiebreakers can be wonky. Point differential forces teams to go for two-point conversions in regular-season finales, and fans almost need to have a calculator to know what’s what.
But schools can’t decide district ties in football with an additional game, so other determining factors come into play.
With high school basketball, as with other sports, coaches have the luxury of choosing how they want to break ties in the standings.
Of course, there is no other option for breaking a tie for the fourth and final playoff spot in basketball other than playing for it. That is what Katy and Katy Taylor will do Friday at Tompkins to determine District 19-6A’s final qualifier.
Even a mini-tournament is possible. The Morton Ranch girls went through a combined three overtime periods against Tompkins and Cinco Ranch to break a three-way tie for fourth place in 19-6A.
Usually, there is a handful of ties within various district standings, and schools often squeeze in an extra game on the schedule to break those deadlocks.
So that is how Barbers Hill and Memorial decided to break their tie — with a game at Dayton High School on Friday.
Part of the gamesmanship involved in determining a postseason representative with an extra game requires projecting the playoff bracket.
The top seed in 21-5A — if all goes well in the bi-district round — is looking at a potential arearound matchup against stateranked Hightower. The 21-5A runner-up is facing a potential area-round game against stateranked Shadow Creek.
“When you get in the playoffs, it’s all about matchups,” Pennington said. “We might match up better against one team than the other. A little of that (gamesmanship) goes into it, too.”
Many districts share the same bylaws — coaches can agree to break ties in the standing by playing a game or flipping a coin. If they can’t decide how to break the tie, the coach who wants to flip for the spot has to concede to the lower seed.
Despite the playoff consequences from winning or losing a seeding game, Pennington and Lewis see plenty of value in the extra game that could help their teams compete in a loaded Region III-5A.
Some schools see the benefit of an extra game even if there is nothing extra to play for. They will schedule warm-up games against other playoff teams. The warm-up games are perfect for teams with a bye this week since going 10 or 11 days without a competitive game before the postseason isn’t ideal.
But sometimes it is better not to play.
That is the decision that Cypress Springs and Cypress Ranch made after completing District 14-6A play Tuesday. The schools are district co-champions after splitting their regular-season meetings. So the coaches flipped a coin to determine which team would be the higher seed. Cypress Ranch won.
Save the legs. Save the energy. And don’t allow playoff opponents another chance to scout you. Those are risks that Barbers Hill and Memorial are taking.
“It depends on your squad,” Cypress Ranch coach Mason Huffmeister said. “You might be a little injured. You might be a little banged up. Gives you a few extra days’ rest and things like that.”