High school basketball games will be longer in the 2015-16 season, but play should flow more smoothly, according to area coaches.
The WIAA board voted June 25 to change varsity games from four eight-minute quarters to two 18-minute halves for a one-year trial. Junior varsity teams will play two 16-minute halves.
Justin Daul, Gillett Secondary School girls basketball coach, likes the change.
“The 18-minute halves are a good thing and the pace of play is better,” Daul said. “It gives the kids an opportunity to get home earlier.”
Ryan Koenig, Shawano Community High School girls basketball coach, agreed with Daul.
“It will be better for the fans and for the teams because the momentum can last longer and will be similar to the college game,” Koenig said.
Daul estimates the change will eliminate about four minutes of dead time from the game.
“I am looking forward to it, but I am not sure how much different it will be,” said Duke Copp, Bonduel High School’s boys basketball coach. “I know in Minnesota, they have it, and there has not been much issue with it.”
Koenig and Copp believe the change could affect coaching strategies, as well.
“There is more time, and I think coaches will be more mindful of their timeouts,” Koenig said. “Some coaches use a majority of them at the end of quarters to stop play.”
Copp agreed. “We always use the quarter breaks as timeouts, but now we need to be more aware of timeouts,” he said.
The board’s decision to seed the tournament series in sectional half-brackets, rather than regionals, drew less favorable reviews from some coaches.
The tournament change will seed teams from 1-16 in the opening round for each half of a sectional bracket, instead of 1-8 for each of four regionals.
Koenig said the new seeding system will be better for teams who deserve the higher seeds, helping them go deeper in the playoffs.
But because the sectional half-brackets will cover a wider geographical area than the regionals have, especially for the smaller schools, the change will potentially increase travel times for some schools and raise transportation costs.
Daul noted, for example, that Phelps and Sevastopol — about four hours apart — were in the same Division 5 sectional last year and, under the new bracketing, could have been paired in the same half-bracket.
“The board overlooked geography on this,” Daul said. “It is not a good thing for kids on a Tuesday night to ride long distances knowing they need to be back in the school the next morning. Some of these kids probably have to get out of school early just to get to a 7 p.m. game, and then get home around midnight-1 a.m.
“I don’t think they had the interest of kids and small schools in mind.”
WIAA associate director Debra Hauser said the WIAA is willing to work with schools to set a neutral site if logistics when are a concern.
She said coaches suggested the seeding change after multiple top seeds were knocked out of the playoffs early in regional tourneys last year.
“Many truly believe that in order to get the best teams to state, seeding of the half brackets is the way to go,” she said. “In some instances this past year, so-so teams reached the sectional level because of the regionals not being balanced with regards to competitiveness.”
Another significant decision rearranges the schedule for the boys and girls state basketball tournaments next March.
The Division 3 semifinals will be played during the Thursday afternoon session, and the Division 4 semifinals will be conducted Thursday evening. On Friday, the Division 5 semifinals will be played in the morning session with the Division 2 semifinals in the afternoon and the Division 1 semifinals in the evening. The schedule for the finals on Saturday remains unchanged.
