Published in the March 30, 2017 edition

By STEPHEN MARTELLUCCI

Less than two weeks ago, the high school winter season wrapped up as the basketball state finals took place on March 18th while the hockey finals took place the next day. One of the determining factors about who goes to the tournament is all the teams that go at least .500 or better. The other one is the Sullivan Rule. This allows teams who play in leagues with higher division schools another way to qualify. This is what the rule states. In leagues where a team’s schedule is comprised of 70 percent or more of higher division schools, and there is no small and large breakout, all MIAA league and MIAA non-league contests played against equal and/or lower divisions may solely be considered in the 50 percent qualifying criteria. Schools may also access the 70 percent tournament qualifying opportunity if a league is aligned by enrollment but the league requires cross-scheduling to the extent that at least 70 percent of the school’s total required opponents are in a higher tournament division. Some people don’t like the rule saying its rewarding teams that should not be in with their record but I feel that this is a very good rule that lower division schools should not be punished for losing to higher division teams A good example of under .500 teams having success in the tournament is the Austin Prep girls basketball team this winter. The Cougars play in the tough Catholic Central League against strong teams like Arlington Catholic and Archbishop Williams. They finished at 9-13 in the regular season and were seeded 14th (last) in the Division 4 North tournament. In the first round they beat third-seeded Lowell Catholic, 56-42, and they rolled, 56-25, over 11th-seeded Essex Tech. They then gave New Mission a tough game in the semifinals before falling, 55-50. In hockey, three Division 3 teams from the South region, Cardinal Spellman, Silver Lake and Foxboro, all won their first playoff games even though all three schools had losing records. Although it is a rarity for these under .500 schools to go very deep into the states, they should still be allowed to participate as they have proved they can compete against their division peers by going at least .500 against them in the regular season. The kids should not be punished because of the league they are in of the lack of enrollment compared to the schools in the league. With schools in this situation, coaches and players should know before the season which games are the key once that could towards the state tournament. Playing tougher competition in their league can often help these schools in the post-season when the opposition is on their level. Hopefully the MIAA will not make any major changes in the Sullivan Rule. If they do, such as seeding the team by how they do against teams in their division (example a team goes 6-12 overall but 4-3 against division teams using the 4-3 percentage instead of the 6-12 percentage) I am fine with that.