The days of 100-point blowouts and divisional imbalance are over. The PSAL girls basketball league has undergone a drastic realignment, which many coaches were clamoring for the past few years.
The teams that were not competitive have moved out of Class AA and only 13 teams remain – five in a new Bronx/Manhattan/Queens division and eight split into two Brooklyn divisions. A “super league” has been created.
Bronx/Manhattan/Queens AA will consist of 13-time defending champion Murry Bergtraum, John F. Kennedy, Manhattan Center, Francis Lewis and Truman. South Shore, Boys & Girls, Midwood and Lincoln will populate Brooklyn AA Group 1 and Group 2 will feature Banneker, Medgar Evers, Grand Street Campus and Brooklyn Collegiate.
“Great job by the PSAL,” Kennedy coach O’Neil Glenn said. “There’s no cakewalk now in our league. You’re playing for seeding, you’re playing for bragging rights. Every game in the PSAL means something.”
Teams will play divisional rivals twice a season in a home and home series and then crossover once a year with teams from other divisions. The home sites of those inter-divisional games will alternate every year. The new schedule was released on PSAL.org on Tuesday.
The Staten Island division will remain the way it was with the champion moving into the ‘AA’ playoffs and the other teams with records of .500 or better competing in the ‘A’ playoffs, according to PSAL girls basketball coordinator Brenda Morgan. If there is a tie, both teams will advance to the ‘AA’ playoffs.
All 13 teams from the three ‘AA’ divisions will earn berths into the playoffs and depending on the number of Staten Island teams eligible, the top one or two teams will get a bye in the first round, Morgan said. Seeding will be done the same way it has been with a committee meeting at the conclusion of the regular season, though it’ll be easier because of an abundance of head-to-head matchups.
Not everyone is entirely happy with the new format. Travel is the big issue and what stood in the way of the PSAL doing this in the past. Francis Lewis coach Steve Tsai said he is very excited about the increased competition level, but getting from place to place might be an issue. Lewis, the lone Queens program in the ‘AA,’ is not near a subway and although the school has a van for athletics he said his team won’t always have access to it. Tsai was hoping more games would be played on Fridays to alleviate players getting home late on school nights.
“If you’re saying we have to travel by public transportation to Kennedy or Truman, I don’t think we’re getting there by 5 o’clock,” he said.
The positives far outweigh the negatives, though, Tsai said. McKee/Staten Island Tech coach Peter LaMarca does not feel the same way. Staten Island, he believes, has been left out of the loop. His team is perennially in the quarterfinals and Curtis and Tottenville were both in the PSAL Class A semifinals last year with Curtis falling to Wings in the final. Curtis also could end up being a powerhouse with Bob Daggett coming onto the staff and his former players from closed St. Peter’s players joining him.
“I think it’s a lack of respect for Staten Island schools,” LaMarca said. “Travel should not be an issue. Girls travel all over the country during AAU. I think we belong, as well as [Curtis and Tottenville]. That would have made 16 teams – perfect. This is very disappointing.”
Perhaps adding Island teams to the ‘AA’ will be a future consideration for the PSAL. This year, though, it’ll be a lucky 13. The thought by coaches is that the league as a whole will be raised to a higher level with the change.
“The new alignment will make the regular season very interesting,” said South Shore coach Anwar Gladden, who has guided his team to the city title game two of the last three years. “Every game will be a challenge that we look forward to.”