Quote:
Originally Posted by Ch1town
So did they wind up winning State?
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Ridgefield Press
Mar 9, 2006
Coach Quits: Basketball controversy at high school
After the first eight minutes, the teams were tied. During the next three quarters, the Ridgefield High boys basketball team lost the game, its berth in the state tournament and, now, its head coach.
Ray Bielizna resigned Tuesday morning amid allegations that he purposely didn’t use his best players for much of the final regular-season game against Bassick-Bridgeport on Feb. 22. The 73-51 loss had positive implications for the Tigers, dropping them from the state tournament’s toughest bracket, Division I, into the less competitive Division II.
If Ridgefield had won the game it would have remained in Division I and Bassick, ironically, would have been in Division II. The Ridgefield loss elevated Bassick into Division I — a loss to Ridgefield would have kept Bassick in Division II.
Mr. Bielizna, who didn’t return several phone calls for this story, has been quoted in other published reports as saying he was aware of the post-season benefits from a loss to Bassick but that he didn’t act on them. He said his goal was merely to rest his top players, some of whom were suffering from nagging injuries, for both the conference and state tournaments and to give younger team members playing time.
Acting on information provided from what they described as a reliable source, officials from the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference, the state’s governing sports body, called Ridgefield High Principal Dr. Dianna Lindsay last Friday morning and asked her to investigate the matter. Mike Savage, an executive director with the CIAC, said Dr. Lindsay called him back within a few hours to confirm the claim that Ridgefield didn’t try its hardest to win the Bassick game. Mr. Savage would not comment when asked if Dr. Lindsay told him that Mr. Bielizna had admitted to her that he wanted to lose to Bassick. Mr. Savage said that Dr. Lindsay’s initial suggestion was to let the Ridgefield team play in Division II but suspend Mr. Bielizna for one game. When CIAC officials rejected that proposal as being too lenient, the two sides agreed to withdraw Ridgefield from the state tournament.
The Tigers were scheduled to play Career Magnet of New Haven in a first-round Division II game Tuesday night at home. Career Magnet was awarded a forfeit victory and automatically advanced to the second round. Mr. Bielizna gave his resignation letter to Ridgefield school officials on Tuesday morning. He will continue as a math teacher at the high school.
Members of the Ridgefield High team, many of whom found out about the decision while at a school dance Friday night, said they were stunned. “Disappointment and shock,” was how Joe Wolff, one of the team’s six seniors described his reaction. “We’ve had a great season — the team won 14 of 20 regular-season games before losing in the FCIAC quarterfinals — and now we don’t get a chance to play in States. It doesn’t seem fair to any of us.”
Mr. Wolff said the players were aware a defeat to Bassick would drop them to Division II — an assistant coach had told them — but that they didn’t play to lose. “That’s ridiculous,” he said. “The guys who were on the floor were trying their hardest. There is no way anyone can say we weren’t trying to win that game.”
After going most of the season with seven regulars, the Tigers played four seldom-used players and one who had not seen any varsity action against Bassick. That irregular substitution pattern caught the eye of several FCIAC coaches, who reported their concerns to the conference’s executive secretary, John Kuczo. Mr. Kuczo then called Mr. Savage to voice his concerns. “We felt there was enough credibility to the claims to investigate,” said Mr. Savage. “We did not want the integrity of the state tournament to be compromised. That’s why we called Ridgefield High School and asked them to look into it. “When Dr. Lindsay called us back, she verified our concerns and we sought a solution,” added Mr. Savage. “We felt that having the team withdraw from the state tournament was a proper resolution.” Dr. Lindsay did not return several phone calls for this story. Dr. Kenneth Freeston, the superintendent of Ridgefield schools, said Dr. Lindsay’s suggestion, that the team be allowed to play in the state tournament without Mr. Bielizna as head coach, was rejected by the CIAC. “We didn’t want the team punished,” said Dr. Freeston. “But the state thought taking them out of the tournament was the best way to approach it.” “This was a serious matter, and we admire the quick response from the Ridgefield principal, superintendent and athletic director (Rod Mergardt),” said Mr. Savage. “We’re satisfied with the way they handled things.”
The state basketball tournament was altered before the 2003-04 season. Rather than group teams based on school enrollment, the format was redesigned based on a point system, with the aim to place all the state’s top teams in one division regardless of school size. Under this scenario, Division I is considered the state’s toughest, with the next three divisions dropping off in quality. Teams must win 40% of their games to make the state tournament. Mr. Savage said the CIAC and the boys basketball committee were aware that the new system had an inherent design flaw: Teams could lose on purpose to move down to a weaker division. “It’s something we talked about and hoped wouldn’t happen,” he said. “Now, after this, I’m sure there will be discussion about ways to change the tournament again. We can oversee a lot of things, but we can’t legislate ethics.”