West River Eagle

Sweet 16 leaves a sour taste for some


PIERRE – Despite some board member opposition, the state’s high school activities association has approved a Sweet 16 format for Class AA and Class B basketball and volleyball.

A second reading on Thursday of proposed changes to the South Dakota High School Activities Association Athletics Handbook passed on a 6-2 vote. Board members Jason Uttermark of Aberdeen and Steve Morford of Spearfish said they voted no on the entire package of changes because they were opposed to changing to the Sweet 16 format.

An attempt to consider the Sweet 16 format separate from the entire package of changes failed on a 3-5 vote of the board.

The Sweet 16 format eliminates regional play and seeds teams for a 16-team tournament.

In AA, regular season seed points will determine the top 16 teams to qualify for postseason play. Two teams would be left out of the tournament. The No. 1 seed would  would host the No. 16. The eight winners would be the teams going to the state tournament.

In Class A, which already has the Sweet 16 format, and Class B, tournaments would decide the top two teams in each region. The remaining 16 teams would be seeded for games with the eight winners going to the state tournament.

At the first reading of the proposal at the SDHSAA board meeting in April, a divide was apparent between East River and West River schools with representatives of West River schools speaking against the proposal.

“I have not heard one positive comment,” Morford said, about the switch to the Sweet 16 format.

Uttermark said he was voting against the proposal because of financial concerns and because “I just love those rivalries on a regional basis.”

Terry Rotert, activities director of the Huron School District, an AA school, said the new format meant that at tournament time teams and their parents would have to travel once rather than three times.

As for the lost revenue, Rotert said schools are already charging higher admission prices for football playoff games. “The precedence is there,” Rotert said, to charge more to make up for lost revenue.

The change will go into effect in the 2017-2018 school year.

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