As Quabbin takes CMADA title, coaches have differing thoughts on sectional tournament
The Central Massachusetts Athletic Directors Association (CMADA) tournament wrapped up this week, featuring championship games on big stages, split between Worcester State and Assumption University.
The Quabbin girls' basketball team defeated Notre Dame Academy in the Class B final on February 21 to take the Central Mass. title.
After a regular season that quickly set them apart as one of the top teams in the league, its only losses were to powerhouse Tyngsborough twice, and Hudson and Littleton, which they beat both the second time they faced off.
Quabbin expressed their goal to win the Central Mass. title – its first in almost five decades – and that from here on out, any further success will be the icing on their already hard-earned and well-deserved cake.
"We're going to be in a situation where we're gonna be going on the road. We're probably going to anywhere between the 19 and 22 seed and the goal of our season was to win this and now we got nothing to lose," Barringer said. "I wouldn't wanna play us, I think we can play with anyone when we're playing well."
While the Quabbin girls program was looking forward to the tournament all season long, others have differing opinions on this makeshift sectional tournament.
Why a CMADA tournament?
Back in 2020, MIAA member schools voted to alter the previous playoff tournament format that included a district tournament prior to the state playoff games. Since the switch, the state has seen a 32-team bracket within each division, making it so teams could play anywhere across the state in any round.
In the years since the change, CMADA installed a sectional tournament in order to still give the area teams a chance to compete for a Central Mass. title.
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CMADA introduced this model in the spring of 2021 before the new state tournament began the following fall. The sectional tournament games still counted as regular season games on the schedule but added back the traditional “districts'' element for teams to participate in. At this point with COVID-19 still largely affecting the decision schools made about activities, teams had to decide to either play in the district or state tournament.
Now it has become a staple after the regular season and before the MIAA state tournament begins. However, there is still a divide in how the playoff tournament should look and whether the CMADA bracket is a positive or negative addition to Central Mass. sports.
Conflicting tournaments
Quabbin boys basketball coach Dennis Dextradeur expressed his concern with the CMADA tournament for basketball. While the sectional bracket made sense for the few years that COVID effected the Clark Tournament, he argues that now it has created a "schism" between the two tournaments.
"Because of the history and tradition of the Clark Tournament, the schools eligible are returning, and rightly so as it has over 80 years in existence," Dextradeur said. "The CMADA is now not a true Central Mass. championship tournament since many teams are opting instead to play in Clark, unless they do not qualify."
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As the tournaments typically happen within the same two weeks, teams cannot participate in both. Oakmont boys and girls basketball both competed in Clark, and therefore were absent from the CMADA tournament.
With Clark's return last season after a pandemic hiatus, it may be just a matter of time before this concern of conflicting tournaments becomes a bigger issue within the Central Mass. basketball world.
This article originally appeared on Gardner News: Is the CMADA tournament helping or hurting Gardner-area teams?
