Although the Anzar High girls basketball team finished with an
above-.500 record and was eligible for the Central Coast Section
playoffs, the team was left off the Division V bracket on Sunday
after the school neglected to file the proper paperwork in
time.
SAN JUAN BAUTISTA
Although the Anzar High girls basketball team finished with an above-.500 record and was eligible for the Central Coast Section playoffs, the team was left off the Division V bracket on Sunday after the school neglected to file the proper paperwork in time.
First-year Athletic Director Sam Stewart said he filed paperwork to league representatives of the Coastal Athletic League prior to Sunday’s CCS meeting, but was unaware he had to file the required season summary form to the CCS as well.
“I screwed up,” Stewart said.
“I didn’t realize until it was too late. They didn’t have our season summary, so they wouldn’t send us (to the playoffs).”
The season summary is basically a form listing the results of each and every game played during the regular season for a specific school. The deadline to submit the form was 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, when the CCS seeding meeting took place in San Jose.
Stewart notified the team on Monday of the error.
“They were a little disappointed,” he said. “But they didn’t throw anything at me.
“I feel really bad about it, but I didn’t do it on purpose.”
Stewart tried calling the CCS offices on Monday, but with the Division V seedings already set, the A.D. was out of luck.
“They wouldn’t send us because they didn’t have that specific paperwork,” Stewart said. “Because of that, they don’t get to go.”
The Hawks finished the regular season in second place in the CAL with an 8-2 record, 10-9 overall. Anzar had qualified to the Division V bracket the last two years, but fell in the first round each time; once to Saint Lawrence by a 47-26 margin in 2008, the other a 54-18 loss to Castilleja last year.
Anzar head coach Mike Bonomi, who took over the team midway through the season when Aaron Netzel stepped down after two-plus years at the helm, said the team took the news well on Monday.
“They’re a young team,” said Bonomi, who used the unfortunate situation as a learning experience for the team.
With only one senior in Sabrina Gonzalez, though, the Hawks are expected to return nearly a full team next season.
“They have more opportunities to make the playoffs,” Bonomi said.
