ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 3, 1995 TAG: 9512030003
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C12 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: HIGH SCHOOLS
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM
As Lord Botetourt, William Byrd and Floyd County ended their girls' basketball seasons this weekend at the state tournament in Salem, Cave Spring, Pulaski County and other Group AAA schools began their season.
Having split girls' basketball seasons isn't good for any part of Virginia, but in Timesland and the surrounding areas it is disastrous.
Group AAA schools in more populous parts of the state have plenty of nearby opponents. However, the five Roanoke Valley District schools must play a triple round-robin schedule and travel hundreds of miles each winter to fill their schedule.
Even worse is the lost revenue from attractive games that would match RVD teams against the best in the Blue Ridge, New River and Piedmont districts. Wouldn't a Floyd County-Pulaski County matchup attract a lot of fans?
If Cave Spring could play Salem, Northside and William Byrd, there would be a tremendous rivalry, just as there is among those schools in other sports.
There is little hope of Group AA and A schools moving their seasons to the winter, and there is less hope the Group AAA teams will shift to the fall.
``There has been discussion [of moving] and it was included in the October meetings,'' said Ken Tilley, the VHSL's executive director. ``Probably the best support [for movement] came from Group AA schools.''
Cave Spring coach Linda Long, who had time to watch several fall basketball games, wouldn't mind switching seasons. ``The main thing is that we all play at the same time,'' added Long, who estimates her team traveled at least a thousand miles last winter.
The solution to this problem may lie in a philosophy called Continuous Improvement, an approach to which Landmark Communications, Inc., the parent company of The Roanoke Times, subscribes. Under Continuous Improvement, and similar plans used by other companies, employees are asked to come up with ideas that will help the company. One of the methods used is brainstorming.
Under Continuous Improvement, employees don't waste effort on things they can't control. For example, employees can't brainstorm hiring 10 workers to get more done if it's not within their budget, so they try to think of alternatives.
So after some brainstorming, here's a plan to combine the girls' basketball seasons that is within the control of the schools:
First, the Roanoke and Western district schools should play girls' basketball in the fall. They could do that now, but they wouldn't be able to compete for a state championship because the Group AAA title is decided in the winter.
That can be overcome. Basketball is not as much a game of numbers as football, so the VHSL could allow the RVD and Western districts to form one or two leagues that would be eligible for the Group AA championship in the fall.
If it is one district, it could be part of Region III. If there are two districts, the RVD could join Region III and the Western could go to Region I or II.
Is allowing Group AAA schools to compete for a Group AA title illogical?
Less than 10 years ago, Group AA-size schools Salem and Northside were members of the RVD. Before they dropped to the Blue Ridge District, both schools made it through the Northwest Region to the Group AAA girls' tournament, so the Blue Ridge schools probably wouldn't be overmatched.
Is this plan within the schools' control?
It's a unique idea, but larger schools have been given VHSL permission to play against smaller schools. The best example was in the 1980s, when Carroll County had more than 1,000 students, but received an exemption to play in the Group AA New River District in all sports.
Would the VHSL resist?
Under Earl Gillespie, the former VHSL executive director who never strayed from the safe path, yes. It's a different era now.
``That's an innovative approach. It shouldn't be discounted,'' said Tilley, who in a little more than a year has taken on plenty of challenges and is in the midst of revamping the state high school organization. ``It's been my philosophy to be creative, be bold, look at new ideas, see if the end result will benefit the schools. Geography is important, as are rivalries and competitive abilities.''BEST OF THE BEST: There's no way to guarantee the best teams reach the final four of a state basketball tournament.
So many times one of the best four teams is knocked out in regional play. It happened last year, when once-beaten George Mason was turned back in a Region B semifinal by Buffalo Gap, the runner-up to Floyd County in Group A.
But there is every reason to believe this year's semifinals in Group AA did have the four best teams playing for the state championship. The teams were Lord Botetourt and William Byrd from Region III and Culpeper and Park View-Sterling from Region II.
These were the two strongest regions in the state. In first-round state play, the only close game came when Park View-Sterling went to triple overtime to win at York.
A healthy Salem team might have ranked among the state's four best squads in Group AA. After all, the Spartans beat Byrd twice during the regular season and split with Lord Botetourt.
But in Salem's final regular-season game, at Lord Botetourt, Spartans point guard Mandy Williams suffered a knee injury. Though she saw action in a playoff game against William Byrd, Williams was unable to participate in the district tournament. Without Williams, Salem wasn't the same team.
At the end, Botetourt and Byrd were the strongest teams in Region III.
LENGTH: Medium: 96 linesby CNB