James Burns: Sac-Joaquin Section seedings don't add up

The cool customer in the warm sweater vest wanted to bark so loud the staging crew in the back halls could hear him.

Instead, the nice guy in him prevailed, yet again, dulling his fangs, steering him away from an attack on the officials.

"Nice take, Brian," Merced coach Marcus Knott said applauding forward Brian Cooksey, who was roughed up in the lane during Merced's loss to Sheldon in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I semifinal at Arco Arena.

And so it goes on the Merced bench, where the high drama and theatrics of coaching are often washed out by optimism, the soothing tones of encouragement and control.

Control of character.

Control of mannerisms.

That's the Knott way.

He carefully phrases his quotes and rarely says anything to shake the boat.

For instance, he'd never say something like: "I'm not privy to what the CIF is thinking when they make these brackets. ... But it doesn't make sense to me at all."

But that was Knott Sunday night, hours after the CIF released its regional brackets for the state championship tournament.

He was baffled and confused and a touch angry. He was, in a sense, un-Knott-like.

Which could -- and should -- play into Merced's favor. If ever there was a time to roll up your sleeves, fill your kids with venom and spice, scowl and be as nasty as a nice-guy coach can be, this is it.

Man, this is it.

In a battle royale for the CIF Division I state championship, Merced has been painted as Lil Mack -- the small, unassuming thrower from Punch-Out! who had to slug his way through a gauntlet of boxers just to get to the belt.

Merced saunters into the ring tonight against its Soda Popinski, state-ranked and fifth-seeded San Ramon Valley, as the No. 12 seed.

The Short Straw.

The Long Shot.

The lowest-seeded team in the Division I tournament.

The section commissioners met in a Sacramento-area office on Sunday, deliberating seeds for five divisions, boys and girls, and there was no judgment more damning than this: the Sac-Joaquin Section's Division I boys contingent is inferior to anything the North Coast, Central Coast and Oakland sections might pony up.

The seeding plan for the Sac-Joaquin Section was irresponsible, at best.

Where's Sheldon?

You have to travel halfway down the list to find the Sac-Joaquin Section champion, past two section runners-up and a semifinalist.

No. 7 Sheldon might be the best team in Northern California had star Darius Nelson not missed a handful of games in the middle of the season with an Achilles' tendon injury. Even so, Sheldon carries a 26-5 record into the state tournament.

Of the six teams rated ahead of Sheldon, five are in CalHiSports-ESPN's state top-15.

Oakland Castlemont is not one of those teams.

No. 6 Castlemont is 16-12 -- including losses to No. 8 Franklin and No. 9 Oakland (twice) -- and nowhere near the state rankings, and yet they'd be the favorite against Sheldon.

The confusion continues. And here's where the plot twists and turns so many times it leaves your brain in a knot.

Turlock is No. 11.

Maybe it's just wounded pride, fussing like this over just one position at the bottom of the bracket.

And if it is...

So what.

Merced earned the right to that No. 11 seed based on merit and head-to-head meetings -- and now it has the right to cry foul. To feel mad and disrespected.

C'mon, is there even a debate? How long did the section bosses "deliberate" on the last two seeds -- 5 seconds?

Because it appears as if they blindly picked Turlock ahead of Merced.

Recent history, certainly, wasn't a factor. If it was, the committee would have known:

Merced is the four-time defending Central California Conference champion. Turlock is not.

Merced has beaten Turlock 11 straight times. Merced has fewer losses, more wins and stronger tournament performances.

Even the computers favor Merced. The Sac-Joaquin Section's power ratings graded Merced out higher in each of its releases, leading to a No. 2 seeding in the playoffs.

The committee saw it differently, likely judging Merced and Turlock on semifinal performances.

Turlock nearly knocked off Franklin, shooting out to a 10-point lead at the half before wilting.

Merced made charges at Sheldon in the first and fourth quarters, but never seriously threatened in a 92-75 loss.

So Turlock draws Castlemont tonight and the easiest possible route to the second round.

Merced gets San Ramon Valley, a team that came within a bucket of playing for the North Coast Section title and the NorCal top seed, and a stern reminder: nice guys finish last.

Even in seedings.

James Burns is managing editor/sports editor of the Sun-Star. He can be reached at jburns@mercedsun-star.com.