You remember those regional contest that often took Bridgeport to places like Keyser, Frankfort or Berkeley Springs? They’re about to become a thing of the past.

 

Do you remember the most recently proposed sectional and regional realignments that had divided up Harrison County Class AA schools and would have eliminated some long-standing rivalries? Well, the final alignments are in and – at least for Harrison County schools in the ‘AA’ division – things are back to the status quo.

 

Understand, for purposes of this blog, the main focus will be on the regional and sectional realignments as they relate to boys and girls basketball. The reason for that stems from the two sports being among the most popular among readers on the Web site. Also, with some events being Class AA-A and some changes being slightly altered in other classifications, to break down all of the nuances would require about a week’s worth of time.

 

That said, every sports alignment will be mentioned in this blog. With that out of the way, the WVSSAC has made several revisions in the proposed realignments of the regions and sections that need to take place due to reclassification of schools take place next year. And the WVSSAC, according to Bridgeport High School Assistant Principal and Athletic Director Matt DeMotto, used some “common sense” when putting together the final alignments.

 

Now, I know some of you don’t always believe “common sense” and “WVSSAC” go together (that’s my statement based on people’s complaints over the years not those of DeMotto), but it appears the governing body of West Virginia sports and extracurricular activities may have gotten it right. Well, they appear to have gotten it right to the best extent possible based on the geographic layout of the state

 

In other words, there’s no way to get this 100 percent satisfactory to everyone. There’s going to be some traveling. That said, here’s what we’ve got that’s going to be official for the next four years starting next year.

 

The Class AA, Region II, Section 1 bracket for basketball will consist of Bridgeport, Liberty, Lincoln, Robert C. Byrd and newcomer Elkins. Region II, Section 2, however, will take the teams in an entirely new direction.

 

Trips over Interstate 68, will be replaced with trips down Interstate 79 North in most cases and then a little off the beaten path after that in some situation. Region II now consists of Braxton County, Clay County, Herbert Hoover, Lewis County, Nichols County and Roane County.

 

According to DeMotto, who was certain that the WVSSAC would at least look  at recommendations for changes in the initial proposal as submitted by Bridgeport and other schools, now has validation in that confidence.

 

“Honestly, you can tell they took the suggestions serious. The suggestions we made, particularly keeping the Harrison County schools together, were enacted,” said DeMotto. “I know we weren’t the only ones in the county that made that suggestion to the WVSSAC. In the end, they were able to use common sense geographically to correct some of the placements where there was too much of a distance between schools, particularly in some sections.”

 

So did they get it 100 percent correct? DeMotto agrees with my assessment that it’s impossible.

 

“They did the best thing they could do and that was to get as many schools closer as possible. Is it perfect? No, but it’s a lot better,” said DeMotto. “Still, there are some too far away from one another. It’s just too hard to make it perfect. In fact, it can’t be perfect.”

 

As for the change Bridgeport will have competing in the regional competition, with basketball being prefaced in the forefront, DeMotto said it’s not a big deal.

 

“We now we’ll be going south in a lot of sports, which is the difference. Honestly, we don’t have much of a relationship with those schools on the other side of our region, but the distance is almost a moot point,” DeMotto said. It’s six of one a half dozen of the other.

 

“The important thing was to keep all of the local schools together,” he continued. “There are rivalries there, we’ve played on another for a long time and you always have better crowds, which means a better gate.”

 

While Bridgeport is happy, it’s likely others aren’t. Click HERE to see the rest of the Class AA Regions and Sections for boys and girls basketball – and you’ll notice Grafton and Philip Barbour are no longer part of the local section and region.

 

Here are the region and sectional breakdowns for every other sport involving Bridgeport:

 

Softball: Region II, Section 1 includes Bridgeport, Elkins, Liberty, Lincoln and Robert C. Byrd. Section 2 includes Braxton County, Clay County, Herbert Hoover, Lewis County and Nicholas County.

 

Golf: Region II consists of Braxton County, Bridgeport, Clay County, Elkins, Herbert Hoover, Lewis County, Liberty, Lincoln, Nicholas County, Roane County and Robert C. Byrd.

 

Cheer: Region II consists of Braxton County, Bridgeport, Clay County, Elkins, Herbert Hoover, Lewis County, Liberty, Lincoln, Nicholas County, Roane County and Robert C. Byrd.

 

Wrestling (Class AA-A): Region II consists of Braxton County, Bridgeport, Clay County, Clay-Battelle, Doddridge County, East Hardy, Elkins, Grafton, Lewis County, Liberty, Lincoln, Moorefield, Philip Barbour, Roane County, Robert. C. Byrd and South Harrison.

 

Tennis (Class AA-A): Region II consists of Braxton County, Bridgeport, Elkins, Grafton, Lewis County, Lincoln,  Moorefield, Notre Dame, Philip Barbour, Robert. C. Byrd, Williamstown, Parkersburg Catholic and Wirt County.

 

Track: : Region II consists of Braxton County, Bridgeport, Clay County, Elkins, Herbert Hoover, Lewis County, Liberty, Lincoln, Nicholas County, Roane County and Robert C. Byrd.

 

Swim: Region III consists of Bridgeport, Buckhannon-Upshur, Elkins, Grafton, Herbert Hoover, Liberty, Lincoln, Notre Dame, Philip Barbour, Pike View, Riverside, Shady Spring, South Harrison, Robert C. Byrd and Woodrow Wilson.

 

Cross Country (Class AA-A): Braxton County, Bridgeport, Clay-Battelle, Doddridge County, East Hardy, Elkins, Gilmer County,  Harman, Lewis County,  Liberty, Lincoln, Moorefield, Notre Dame, Pendleton County, Pickens, Roane County, Robert C. Byrd, South Harrison, Trinity Christian, Tucker County, Tygarts Valley, Union, West Virginia School for the Deaf.

 

Baseball: Region II, Section 1 consists of Bridgeport, Elkins, Liberty, Lincoln and Robert C. Byrd. Section 2 consists of Braxton County, Clay County, Herbert Hoover, Lewis County, Nicholas County and Roane County.

 

Volleyball: Region II, Section 1 consists of Bridgeport, Elkins, Liberty, Lincoln and Robert C. Byrd. Section 2 consists of Braxton County, Clay County, Herbert Hoover, Lewis County, Nicholas County and Roane County.

 

Boys Soccer (Class AA-A):  Region II, Section 1 consists of Bridgeport, Grafton, Notre Dame, Robert C. Byrd, Liberty and Lincoln. Section 2 consists of Elkins, Lewis County, Pendleton County, Philip Barbour and South Harrison.

 

Girls Soccer (Class AA-A): Region II, Section 1 consists of Bridgeport, Grafton, Notre Dame, Robert C. Byrd, Liberty and Lincoln. Section 2 consists of Elkins, Lewis County, Pendleton County, Philip Barbour and South Harrison.

 

Editor's Note: Top photos show boys and girls basketball action involving Bridgeport and Robert C. Byrd and that rivalry will stay in place in future sectional play. Photos by www.benqueenphotography.com. Bottom photo is of BHS Assistant Principal and Athletic Director Matt DeMotto.