Losing to Win or Winning to Lose?
It’s the CHSAA B/Q Diocesan Championship game. There's no time left on the clock and you’re down by one. Your best shooter was fouled at the buzzer while attempting a shot. Does he try to hit both foul shots to win the game or do you instruct him to miss them both on purpose? The answer seems obvious but what if losing meant a higher probability of winning the CHSAA Intersectionals Tournament, the holy grail of the Catholic League.
The scenario and moral dilemma is actually not that farfetched. In the upcoming CHSAA Intersectionals Tournament, which is the Catholic League’s City Championship, the number one seed theoretically has a harder path to the championship than the number two seed.
On Friday at 7:30 pm, Bishop Loughlin will play against Archbishop Molloy at St. Francis Prep for the championship of the CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens Diocesan. The winner of that game will have the one seed in the Intersectionals with the loser getting the two seed. Let’s look at the potential paths for the one seed verses that of the two seed.
The #1 seed will have to play Archbishop Stepinac in the quarters and more than likely follow that up with a semifinal game against more than likely Christ the King. The #2 seed will play Iona Prep in the Quarterfinals and play St. Raymond/Cardinal Hayes or Xaverian in the semis.
Choosing between Stepinac and Iona Prep, odds are you’d fair better against Iona Prep who lost their go-to-guy Ty Jerome '16 for the season due to injury. The Gaels were 3-1 with Jerome and ended the regular season at 3-10. Conversely, while Stepinac has some cohesion issues they’ve lost most of their games by a hair, have two all-stars on their team with Jordan Tucker ‘16 and Aundre Hyatt ‘16 and seem to be gaining chemistry and momentum. The Crusaders are clearly a much tougher out than Iona Prep.
In the quarterfinals, as the #1 seed you’d be going up against a bruised but hungry Christ the King squad that’s use to winning City chips. A team that just got upset in the B/Q semis and is seeking some retribution. With or without Jared Rivers '16 who’s iffy due to a recently injured shoulder, the Royals still pack a punch with point guard Jose Alvarado ‘17, Tyrone Cohen ‘16, David Cole ‘16 and Tyson Walker ‘18. The #2 seed should potential have and easier path than the #1 seed.
This rare scenario where losing on purpose now to win later aka losing the battle to win the war and the mixed messages it sends has reared its ugly head with allegations in the past regarding CHSAA girls basketball.
St. Mike's denies losing on purpose to St. Pete's in Archdiocesan title game
There was also an extreme case of trying to lose to win that made national headlines where two teams tried to lose on purpose. The efforts of both coaches to throw a game was so blatant that both coaches were disqualified.
Teams Banned From Play After Accusations of Playing to Lose
There was even a hubbub at the end of the NBA season with the New York Knicks where people including Spike Lee thought they should've thrown their final games in order to insure getting the #1 pick in the draft. Ironically by not throwing games, they got a lower pick and ended up with arguably the best player in the draft, 7’0” Kristaps Porzingis. This raised question about the morals of losing on purpose for the greater good or always try to win regardless.
Normally, getting the #1 seed insures the path of least resistance to the getting an Intersectionals chip. That’s why winning the CHSAA B/Q chip is usually paramount. Due to unforeseen circumstances, this may not be the case this season. Maybe because it’s a leap year this phenomenon is occurring or maybe it’s just a fluke.
The flip side is that there’s such parody in the Catholic League that anybody can beat anybody on a given night so it doesn’t matter who plays who. Just win! Either way, at Friday’s championship game between Archbishop Molloy and Bishop Loughlin, expect there to be added microscope lenses on the coaches, players and even the referees in this most important and exciting game.
What would you do?
