MSHSAA plays 52 pick-up with basketball classes and district assignments 11/21/2023

 Anybody see any rhyme or reason to MSHSAA reclassification of basketball teams each year?

Seems like they might be writing out all the boys and girls basketball teams on pieces of paper, dumping them on the floor and then picking them up like after a "52 Pickup" card game where you scatter the cards across the room and then, reassigning them randomly to new classes or new districts?

Sort of feels like that although there is probably some reasoning behind their reassignments.  For me, it means rebuilding three or four spreadsheets to put the right teams in the right class or district for my interactive algorithm and report sheets.  Makes me wonder if I should be doing these ratings anymore.

I lost count of the changes but there were at least 80 teams that changed classes and another 50 or so that changed districts.  Some were pretty drastic changes.  Cardinal Ritter, traditionally a class three or four, and the reigning class five champion, was moved up to class six, district one.  That will put a damper on Jackson's chances of repeating as perennial district one champs.   Other class six additions were Mehlville, Riverview Gardens, Glendale, and Ruskin.

A change like Cardinal Ritter, makes sense in some respects.  While they are only about 800 student population, they get the cream of the crop of good basketball players from the city area, as does Vashon.  Middle school kids can opt to go to any St, Louis city high school, so many talented ball players end up at Vashon, a PHL school.  A number of talented players get recruited to Ritter, a private school.  Those two northside St. Louis teams acquire most of the city's talent, which makes it hard for schools like Miller Academy or Confluence to compete but they often field excellent teams despite the gravitational pull of Vashon and Ritter.  I am a little surprised that Vashon was not moved up to class five or six.

Some moves were head-scratchers.  Roosevelt (with Carnahan) was moved up to class five from four.  Roosevelt struggled to win more than seven games in a season (2019 they were 11-12) but that lack of success must have been overlooked because they have a combined team with Carnahan.  St. Charles was moved up too, but they have had a good record of late.  William Chrisman and Raytown were moved down from six to five which should bode well for their district prospects.

Another school on the move was Principia, moved from class two to class four.  Quite a jump but it might be a reaction to the recruiting Principia has done to elevate their team's performance.  This influx of talent took Principia from a 5-20 team in both 2019 and 2020 to a runner-up in class two last year with a 25-7 record.  The jump to class four, district four means Principia will have to face off with John Burroughs and MICDS in districts, Blair Oaks in sectional (if they get that far) and eventually Vashon.  A tough post-season assignment.

St. Francis Borgia lucked out with a step down from class five to four, district seven, facing off against Lutheran St. Charles, Orchard Farm and St. Charles West and then having to take on Mexico or Kirksville in sectional.  Vashon would be another challenge, if Borgia gets that far.

Bolivar moved down from class five and Strafford was moved up from three, both landing in district ten.  Those two teams will probably battle for the district title.  Clever was inexplicably moved up from class three to class four, district eleven, another head-scratcher.

In district thirteen, St. Michael Archangel was moved up from class three and will challenge NevAda (hope I have that pronunciation right).  I also learned from my daughter, who attended NW Missouri State that Milan is pronounced MIlan, not Melan, as in the city in Italy.  I learn some new Missouri geography every year.

In class three, Cape Notre Dame "lucked" out dropping from class four but into district two with Charleston, one of the best teams in class three.  Greenville, a strong class two team, moved up to class three, district three where they face mild competition from West County.

In class three district five, Bowling Green, Priory and Whitfield were all dropped in on Elsberry, who has back-to-back twenty-win seasons but no district title to show for it.  These assignments might be a continuation of their drought.

In district nine, Fatima was dropped from class four to three, making them the favorite over an always good Steelville squad.  A good Iberia class two squad was also moved into district nine.

In district eleven, Forsyth drops down to make it a competitive district with Fair Grove, Sparta and Greenwood.  Inexplicably, New Covenant Academy was moved up from class two.

Marionville, a strong class two team is now the odds-on favorite in district twelve, class three.

And there were some no-shows for schools like Cristo Rey, which is playing a non-MSHSAA schedule.  Gloria Deo Academy joins MSHSAA in class two, district eleven.

That's enough rambling for now.  I need to get back to fixing the girls spreadsheet.