4 BHHS Varsity Teams Start Post-Season This Week

October 29, 2018

It’s playoff week at Brookings-Harbor high school as an unprecedented four varsity teams from BHHS will play in-state play-off situations this week.

Not to take anything away from the three other BHHS varsity teams, (listed further down in the article), the big news here is that after dropping their final league game last Friday night in what was thought to be a ‘win and you’re in’ post-season situation, the Brookings-Harbor Bruin football team found out late Saturday that they had surprisingly qualified mathematically for the playoffs.

In what is clearly a mathematical conundrum…the Wild Coast Compass reached out to our local statistic Einstein, Mr. Chris Winn, who obviously paid attention in his math classes, and asked him to help us understand the obscure formula that is the OSAA playoff qualifications.

It all comes down to numbers, starting with the RPI factor which gauges a teams games and their strength of schedule against the rest of the teams in the same classification. Games won or lost, home or away all count towards this. Those non-league away games, such as the game against Del Norte, had big impacts on the RPI, as away wins count more vs home wins and Del Norte’s schedule increased BHHS’s strength of schedule. It helped that 2 teams were very strong in the District too.

The Colley factor is similar but does not take out of state games into account. It also compares teams to all the teams above and below in classifications. Colley is an unbiased look at all “like” teams. So many teams schedule nonconference games against teams that used to be in the same league or regional rivalries. Teams also get the benefit of traveling with this. It helps the teams really really far (see eastern Oregon) get more value for their games. They have to be a bit more creative in-game schedules. The Colley factor uses teams +/- 1 classification which in this case +/-1 are 4a and 2a teams.

So, the RPI formula is as follows 7/20 × WWP(Weighted Winning Percentage) +13/20 x OWP(opponents winning percentage) in combination with the Colley factor of +/-1 of 4a and 2a teams produced the necessary numbers.

In the end it came down to the numbers in the RPI (having Del Norte’s record and ALL their opponents records included) and the Colley (only in-state and ALL same classification schools weighing in) that it was to much for other teams to pass them.

Ultimately, it was some scheduling genius by Coach Bavaro before the season even started by strategically including tough teams, the away games, and adding Del Norte that in the end mathematically propelled them the At-Large spot.

Coach Bavaro’s varsity Bruin football team will take on the 4-1 Amity Warriors this Friday evening at 7:00 pm at Amity’s home field just south of McMinnville in what will be the Bruins Football first post-season play in over a decade.

Whew!!! After all that math and stuff, which applies to all league play regardless of the sport, when you just don’t lose and dominate like the three teams below…you don’t need to do the math when you’re #1.

Starting Tuesday, October 30th,(tomorrow) at 3:30, the 12-0 3A/2A/1A Special District 4 undefeated champion BHHS varsity boys soccer team will start their quest to the State Championship.

After overpowering teams from start to finish through out the 12 games of league play, the Bruins scored 110 goals while allowing only 1 goal be scored against them in league play. The Bruins boys soccer team will match-up against a 10-4 Rogue River Chieftain team at home Tuesday afternoon. Of the 4 losses the Chieftain’s suffered in league play, two were at home and two were on the road.

On Wednesday, October 31st, the 10-0 3A/2A/1A Special District 4 undefeated champion BHHS varsity Lady Bruins soccer team, led by Kyla Siri will take the first steps in their quest for a State Championship.

The Lady Bruins who also commanded the field by overwhelming teams from whistle to whistle and will match-up with the 5-3 Lakeview Honkers at home at 3:30 Wednesday afternoon.

The BHHS Bruin 3A/2A/1A Special District 4 champion boys varsity Cross Country team, led by Coach of the Year Terry Axel, finished their season winning their 5k race last Thursday at Special District 4 Cross Country Championships.