Even though the season hasn't started yet, the road to a state championship just got harder for the Hanford High girls basketball team.

After winning the Central Section championship in Division III last season, the Bullpups have been moved up to Division II.

In previous years, teams were placed in divisions based on solely the school's enrollment. That's not the case this year. Under new placement guidelines by the California Interscholastic Federation, the governing body of high schools athletics in the state, teams are placed in divisions based on past records.

Last year, Hanford finished 25-5, ranked No. 25 in the state and with its first Section title since 2001 after defeating Yosemite (Oakhurst) in the championship game 49-44 at Selland Arena.

"It makes it hard to play for a state championship," said Hanford head coach Tom Parrish. "It's almost like you're penalized for being good."

Parrish said the transition to Division II wouldn't be a problem until his team gets to the state level where they would have to face traditional powerhouses from Southern California.

In the middle of West Yosemite League play, Hanford is scheduled to play against state powers Brea-Olinda and Oakridge (El Dorado).

"We wanted to schedule some tough games during league play to get us ready for the playoffs," Parrish said.

Last season, Hanford ranked in the top 20 in the nation in scoring offense at 76.2 points per game.

The Bullpups lost only one senior from last year's team and return 13 players from a team that lost to Magnolia (Anaheim) 76-72 in the first round of the Southern California regional playoffs. Magnolia went on to the state title game before losing to Sacred Heart Cathedral of San Franicsco.

Returning to the team are Madison Parrish, Tom's daughter, who was selected as the WYL's most valuable player as a freshman, Courtney Rose, who averaged 11.4 points per game and Taylor Spikes who added 10.4 points per game and led the team with 75 3-pointers.

"We should be better than last year," Tom Parrish said. "We were young last year. With all those players back, we haven't lost anything.

Hanford, which uses a guard-oriented, uptempo style with full court pressure on defense, will have a bench that goes 12 players deep, Parrish said. The Bullpups will also look to score from the outside. Last year, Hanford attempted 861 3-pointers.

"Our biggest challenge is rebounding," Tom Parrish said. "When you play a good team that's tall and they rebound well, that's our nemesis."

EDITOR'S NOTE: First of a weeklong series of stories previewing the high school basketball season.

(Nov. 30, 2008)