RallyNorth.net

Four quarters brings change to girls hoop

Friday, December, 21 By Matt Jenkins
Staff writer

Among North Shore girls basketball coaches, Jane Heil may be the only one who has been coaching long enough to remember when the high school game was broken up into four quarters. She also may be the only coach who doesn't have any gripes about the MIAA going back to that format this season.

Four 8-minute quarters, as opposed to the 16-minute halves that had been in place, seems like a minor difference. Many parents, fans, and players might not have even known about the change until the first tipoff this season.

But beneath the surface, the two 1-minute breaks in each half will alter the way the game is played this winter. Heil, now in her 27th year as Peabody's head coach, has a reputation for making frequent, wholesale substitutions. The extra breaks, she said, will make it even easier for her to sub.

"The first group might get an extra minute or go a little longer in the first quarter," Heil said. "The interesting thing about the quarters is that we have five timeouts | three full and two 30-second timeouts. Nothing has really been taken away; we're actually gaining a timeout in between quarters."

The so-called gained timeout could be viewed as gold or garbage, depending on your perspective.

"I think it definitely has some impact," Masconomet coach Bob Romeo said. "Certainly it will allow coaches to handle swing players (those moving between JV and varsity) better and gives flexibility to develop young players. During varsity games the extra stoppage is also a chance for rest | but it also can be a momentum breaker."

Teams that like to run and press or teams with a lot of inexperience players could suffer from the stoppage. It will become increasingly difficult to wear teams down, since the proper use of timeouts by coaches could conceivably keep all their players fresh.

"It kind of slows the game down," Ipswich coach Mandy Zegarowski said. "It's not a huge benefit to us; it interrupts the flow. I don't like to use a lot of timeouts if I don't have to. We try to get (other teams) tired." On the flip side, teams with a short bench could remain competitive longer because there will be less need to substitute.

Masconomet, for example, has six experienced players and six others who are new to the varsity. Romeo has the luxury of bringing the young players along slowly with this format because he can stick with veterans like Caroline Stewart, Annie Burns and Jamie White longer.

"It's easier to shorten the bench," Romeo said. "With a stoppage at the 8-minute mark, maybe you can play someone for seven minutes, then sit for a minute at the end of the quarter and bring her right back for the next quarter. It can be used to your advantage."

Ultimately, the new rule will not prevent good teams from winning basketball games. But it will change the way coaches use their personnel.