LYNN– St. Mary’s is appealing an MIAA ruling that would seed the school’s boys basketball team last in the upcoming Division 3 North state tournament.
Rule 29.3 in the MIAA Handbook states that “students or teams that have gained court injunctions forcing their entry into the state tournament will be seeded last.”
St. Mary’s athletic director Jeff Newhall counters that rule.
“I challenge that the rule is there for a team that got a court order forcing their way into the tournament,” Newhall said. “I look at that as a team that didn’t win 10 games or finished under .500 and got a court order to force their way into the tournament. We got our court order back in the third game of the season, so we’re not forcing our way into the tournament.”
The Spartans are 13-2, for the purposes of seeding, this season. Newhall believes the team’s record indicates the Spartans have earned their way to a high seed in the Division 3 North bracket.
“We’re 13-2,” Newhall said. “We’re not forcing our way into anything.”
St. Mary’s was informed of the MIAA’s ruling last week. Since then, the Spartans have joined an appeal process to change it.
“Our record would stay the same, they’d just seed as last,” Newhall said. “We’re appealing to the MIAA and it’s a one-time thing. If they rule in our favor, we’ll be seeded based on our record. If they don’t, we’ll be seeded last.”
St. Mary’s has not been informed as to when a final decision will be made. The state tournament pairings will be released a week from Friday.
“This has ramifications throughout the entire bracket,” Newhall said. “The quicker a decision is made, the better for everyone else. If you seed our team last, the top seed won’t be too happy with that. While you’re penalizing us, you’re also penalizing other teams.
“The timeliness of this, with seeding happening next week, shows there’s a sense of urgency to get it done,” Newhall added.
Last season, the Spartans were seeded No. 3 in the Division 4 North bracket. St. Mary’s won Division 4 North and reached the state final. The Spartans were bumped up to Division 3 prior to the start of the season.
