Clovis West wins to advance, but should Caruthers even be in Central Section Division I?
Clovis West High girls basketball coach Craig Campbell said it’s not right for Caruthers to be playing in the Central Section Division I playoffs.
Campbell shared his observations after top-seeded Golden Eagles had just defeated Caruthers 72-42 in the quarterfinals on Thursday to advance to play in the semifinals against Buchanan.
But the question lingered: Why did this matchup happen in the first place?
Caruthers (24-7) is a small-school basketball powerhouse under coach Anna Almeida — five section championships in the past eight years plus the 2019 state D-V crown to its credit. But the school enrollment is 649, according to the Public School Review.
Clovis West (28-1) is listed at 2,034 students and has won 10 straight D-I or Open Division section championships plus 23 overall, is a perennial nationally ranked program and won the 2017 state Open title.
“Anna’s done a tremendous job there,” Campbell said. “They are a D-V program, D-IV program enrollment wise and they’re stuck in this top division, and I’ve campaigned for them for years. They should be playing in their school size and winning state championships. It’s a testament to her. She built that and that’s what they turned that program into.”
It’s not the end for Almedia’s Blue Raiders, who will play again in the California Interscholastic Federation state playoffs.
Quarterfinal teams automatically qualify for the state playoffs.
“We have such different size private schools from 300 to some 3,000,” Campbell said. “I know enrollment is not a perfect landscape, but it’s a better starting point in my opinion in competitive equity. In my opinion, teams with 3,000 kids should not be playing in D-IV, D-V.”
Last season, Caruthers was placed in Division III and won the section title.
In 2020-2021, the Blue Raiders played in the Open Division and lost to Clovis 62-35.
Heading into this postseason, Caruthers was based in Division II.
But since the 2020-21 school year, Central Section brackets have been set using the MaxPreps formula that factors performance and strength of schedule but not school size.
Campbell hopes it changes.
“That’s a huge injustice,” he said. “It’s not a level playing field when schools have 300 to 500 kids when you’re playing a school with 3,000. It doesn’t impact me because we’re in the largest school division regardless. I think globally, I’m just not a huge fan of competitive equity.”
