The Central Section Board of Managers will vote next month on a divisional realignment proposal for the next two-year cycle of winter sports playoffs, effective February.

A two-week window for appeals will immediately follow the Oct. 24 vote.

Proposed changes are based on a point system counting league and playoff results and playoff seeding in the past two years.

Gathering steam in the section is a plan to eliminate league results from the equation. That would increase the chances, for example, of a Corcoran girls basketball program to return back to D-IV from D-III. It is expected that the Panthers will consistently dominate the East Sequoia League under coach Doug White. But, with 950 students, they haven't made a serious run in D-III.

Clovis North, per all sports now, has requested to play up in D-I. All requests to move up are automatically approved by the CIF.

Listed are school, proposed division change and, in parentheses, former division:

Boys basketball: D-I: Memorial (II), Tulare (II), Clovis North (II); D-II: Hoover (III), Ridgeview (III); D-III: Central Valley Christian (IV), West (II); D-V: Immanuel (IV)

Girls basketball: D-I: Clovis North (II), Monache (II); D-II: Independence (III), Ridgeview (III); D-III: Sierra (IV), Golden West (II), Memorial (IV); D-IV: Sierra Pacific (V), CVC (V).

Boys soccer: D-I: Clovis North (II); D-III: Selma (IV); D-IV: Hanford West (III), Woodlake (V); D-V: McFarland (VI), CVC (IV), Chavez (IV); D-VI: Dos Palos (V).

Girls soccer: D-I: Clovis North; D-III: Liberty-Madera Ranchos (IV), Golden West (II), CVC (IV); D-IV: Caruthers (V), Strathmore (V); D-V: Orange Cove (VI).

Referee, 24, dies

The community of Sanger and the San Joaquin Valley Officials Association are grieving over the loss of Evan Medina.

Medina, 24, died Thursday after being involved in a solo automobile accident in northwest Sanger. Bob Kayajanian, president of the SJVOA, says alcohol was not involved.

He says Medina, a three-sport athlete at Sanger High, would have been a fifth-year basketball referee in the association this season. Kayajanian also says Medina worked his first varsity game with his father, Al Medina, last season.

And "how proud" the father was, Kayajanian says.

"Evan worked his way through the ranks and was ready to start a varsity schedule," Kayajanian says. "It is an extremely sad day for SJVOA basketball."

Recitation of the Holy Rosary will be held at St. Mary's New Catholic Church in Sanger at 7 p.m. today. A funeral mass will be held at the same church at 9 a.m. Thursday, with interment to follow at Sanger Cemetery.

Tennis rankings

Fresh off its run to the Division II championship at the California Tennis Classic over the weekend, Buchanan debuts this week as The Bee's top-ranked girls tennis team in the Central Section.

The rest of the Top 10: No. 2 Stockdale, No. 3 Bullard, No. 4 Redwood, No. 5 Clovis East, No. 6 Clovis West, No. 7 Garces, No. 8 Clovis, No. 9 Clovis North and No. 10 Memorial. Clovis West is the defending section D-I champion.

Individually, Garces' Gracie Jacobs, the section singles runner-up last year, is top ranked followed by No. 2 Megan Lee, Buchanan; No. 3 Eryn Piearcy, Clovis West; 4. Prutha Metha, Stockdale; and No. 5 Isabel Donaldson, Bakersfield.

The reporters can be reached aboogaard@fresnobee.com or nickg@fresnobee.com.