CIF rule keeps South Fork out
Cubs not part of state playoffs after reaching North Coast Section semifinal
The South Fork Cubs boys basketball team had a terrific season. They finished the year with a 19-6 record and won the Little 4 league. They advanced to the semifinals of the North Coast Section playoffs. But when the time came for California Interscholastic Federation NorCal Division VI state playoffs, they were conspicuously absent.
The teams chosen over them were perplexing. Averroes was chosen despite being eliminated in a 25-point loss in the quarterfinals of the same NCS playoffs that South Fork participated in. Etna lost in the section title game, but only had a 14-12 record. Sacramento Waldorf was also chosen after they made it to their section championship, despite losing in that game 72-29.
The reason that the Cubs were left out of the state tournament? They had more than 200 students.
“I believe it was in October that our representative from NCS sent me some paperwork explaining that NCS has not been in compliance with a CIF ruling that says for Division VI NorCal Basketball tournament, if your student population is above 200 then you do not qualify,” said Taylor Morrow, athletic director and basketball coach at South Fork. “The paperwork stipulated that I can either stay as a Division VI team or move up to Division V if I would like to try to qualify for the NorCal Tournament.
Morrow, in his first year as the athletic director, did not want to make a rash decision. He was concerned about the long-term viability of the small school in Miranda competing at the higher level. He attempted to
understand the rationale behind the ruling, considering South Fork was far from a perennial powerhouse at the Division VI level. The Cubs have not won a section championship since 1990.
“There really wasn’t a ton of clarification,” said Morrow. “(I was) in my first few months here of being athletic director and as a basketball coach, so I was unsure what the right call was.”
He tried to reach out to explore other options. One idea Morrow had was if his team could stay in Division VI for section playoffs but would then apply with the CIF for a spot in the Division V state playoffs. The response was a flat no. Morrow was further perplexed at the end of the season when he noticed another Humboldt-Del Norte League school, McKinleyville, was placed in the Division III state playoffs after competing in the Division IV section playoffs.
He talked things over with his team at the start of the season. Of course, South Fork’s players were unfazed by the notion of higher competition. But when Morrow further explained the risks and long-term implications, his players agreed it would be best to pursue the goal of a section championship while knowing there would be no postseason.
“The section championship was our ultimate goal, which we fell short of,” added Morrow. “But it was fine, knowing that our season was kind of finite in that way.”
But frustrations continue to linger as to why that rule exists in the first place. While exact enrollment numbers are unclear, there didn’t appear to be any reason as to why 200 student enrollment would provide a clear competitive advantage. Since 2009 when Division VI had its first section title, only six of the champions have been public schools that would be most affected by varying student populations. Four of those championships were won by Ferndale, who is also at risk of potentially bubbling over the 200 mark in students but is currently under it.
Meanwhile, the smaller public schools that could be forced to move up to Division V would find a landscape that is dominated by private schools. In the past 25 years, only one school, Hoopa Valley, won a Division V section championship in boys basketball. And private schools have won every year since 2003.
“I’m not sure who or how or what this rule is protecting,” said Morrow. “It doesn’t seem like this rule is helping everybody compete.”
The early results from this year’s field don’t reflect the CIF’s attempts to create a competitively balanced field. Of the 14 Division VI section playoff games, 12 of them were won by 15 or more points. In the opening round of the Division VI state playoffs, all four games were won by 19 or more points.
It’s unclear whether the rules around the 200-student number were supported by data or other supporting evidence, but what is clear is the impact it had on a small public school that was having a special season.
“Part of the thing for me is that some of these kids, you know, that was the last basketball game,” said Morrow. “They didn’t get to play a few more at a really exciting level. Where high school sports doesn’t get better than the postseason stuff.”
“Now they don’t get that opportunity, which is a shame.”
“There really wasn’t a ton of clarification. (I was) in my first few months here of being athletic director and as a basketball coach, so I was unsure what the right call was.” — Taylor Morrow, South Fork athletic director and basketball coach