If the Basketball Hall of Fame cares about girls basketball, it has a funny way of showing it.

The Spalding Hoophall Classic's 2012 schedule was officially released Monday and despite adding a fifth day to the annual January event, it remained severely lacking in girls games.

The Classic, which begins Thursday, Jan. 12, features a total of 24 games and just three are set aside for the girls.

Generally, Saturday, Sunday and Monday have been set aside mostly for the national teams, which have brought the very best boys players - many future NBA All-Stars - to Springfield College and are the main attraction. Those days have always been a no-girls-allowed affair.

Fridays were set aside for the girls in the past, but a few rough nights at the ticket office may have pushed the event to bring boys games into Fridays and the girls have been left with just three games since 2009. Even the extra day didn't give the girls another game.

One argument is that the girls don't sell enough tickets, but that's a matter of smart planning.

For instance, the Lee girls basketball fans overwhelm the Curry Hicks Cage every championship Saturday morning. Putting that team - which features a superb junior class - at a reasonable time to make such a commute and you can bet that Blake Arena will be filled with orange and black.

The Hoophall has wisely brought in powerhouse national girls teams and players, which has been a good draw as patrons were interested in seeing the likes of Tina Charles, Elena Della Donne and Kaleena Lewis. That tradition continues this year with the inclusion of Cicero-North (N.Y.) and UConn commit Breanna Stewart, who will play against West Springfield on Jan. 13 at 6 p.m. The local interest in the Huskies - and the potential for a Geno Auriemma sighting - will surely sell tickets again this year.

The other girls games on the 13th are Sabis against Central at 3 p.m. and Chris The King (N.Y.) against East Longmeadow at 7:30 p.m.

Now that the event has five days, there's no reason Thursday and Monday can't feature at least three more girls games. Even having five or six total would seem like a big deal at this point. Making another one feature a "national" team would help the sales as well. A doubleheader like the Hampshire Regional boys and girls teams would also make the commute well worth it.

It's unfortunate that terrific players and teams are left out. There are plenty of interesting teams from WMass, including state Division 1 runner-up Amherst, which returns four starters from last year, a terrific group of sophomores from Northampton, returning Hoophall WMass Player of the Year Monique Heard of Holyoke and powerhouses with strong fan bases and stronger rosters such as Lee and Palmer.

To be clear, the Hoophall Classic is a fabulous event and the players and coaches who take part always rave about it. This year's event is, once again, top notch. But only on the boys side.

Unfortunately, the Hoophall treating local girls basketball as secondary is nothing new. The annual senior all-star event, which is played at the Hall of Fame's Center Court, features three games. Guess which gender gets only one of the three.

And while no reasonable person would suggest the Hoophall as being deliberately biased, the combination of the Classic schedule and the senior all-star event has created a perception that girls basketball isn't of interest.

That's unfortunate for such an important basketball organization.

'WEIRD' HOMECOMING - Central's Valdamar Brower has coached against his alma mater a total of seven times, but it hasn't gotten any easier for him.

"It still feels very weird to play (against Northampton). It's uncomfortable, but you have to take care of business," Brower said after his Golden Eagles knocked off the Blue Devils 49-7 at David Wright Field on Friday night. "It's hard to come here. It's hard to talk about."

Brower, who graduated from Northampton in 1999, walked on at the University of Massachusetts and became an All-American for the Minutemen, has coached against the Blue Devils four times as a head coach and three more as an assistant with a combined record of 5-2.

Northampton coach Ken O'Brien, who coached Brower, said he roots for Central and "T" all season, with one exception.

"T is like a son to me," O'Brien said. "We talk a lot of football and other than this week, I'll do whatever I can to help him. He knows that and it's vice versa. It goes both ways."

Brower's team handed Longmeadow its first AA Conference loss in 52 games on Oct. 14 and is in contention for the league title. He said he cherishes his relationship with O'Brien.

"It's great. It's very solid," Brower said of the bond with his former coach. "I'm still learning from him. He's a great mentor. I'm still growing as a coach and he's obviously been there for a while. He's helped me learn and grow, to be honest."

END OF AN ERA - Smith Academy legend Sherry Webb coached her final varsity game after 37 years last fall. She officially ended her run as athletic director, which began in 1983, on July 1. And on Friday, Webb will spend her last day teaching physical education at the school and be officially retired.

"I have absolutely nothing planned" for next week, said Webb, whose 61st birthday is Sunday.

Of course, there will be some attempt to relax, but Webb will still be coaching next week, as she has been all fall.

Webb is in her first year as an assistant coach for the Mount Holyoke field hockey team under Andy Whitcomb.

The Lyons, whose roster includes former Falcons Jaimie Allen and Steph Slysz, as well as Amherst products Jess Fajardo and Kirsti Wiemokly, are currently 11-4 overall heading into tonight's home match against UMass-Dartmouth at 6 p.m.

Next week, they'll be playing in the NEWMAC tournament, starting on Tuesday.

SEEDING DATES - Tournament committees will meet next week to announce the seedings for the Western Massachusetts postseason.

The field hockey meeting is set for Monday at Northampton at 9 a.m.

Girls volleyball will be announced on Wednesday at Turners Falls at 11 a.m.

The boys and girls soccer meeting is set for Nov. 3 at Granby at 1 p.m.

STATE GOLF - The MIAA state golf championships will be played Monday.

Division 1 will play at The International in Bolton, while Division 2 plays at Hickory Ridge in Amherst. Division 3 will play at Glen Ellen in Millis.

D-1 starts at 9 a.m., with D-2 and D-3 opening at 10.

Granby and Belchertown were the top two finishers in the WMass Division 2 championship Tuesday, led by medalist Matt Izckowski and second-place finisher Max Bock, respectively. Despite the shotgun start, Izckowski and Bock will both begin their rounds on the first hole.

GAME OF THE WEEK - Belchertown at South Hadley boys soccer, Tuesday, 6 p.m.

There's plenty on the line between the two Holley Division rivals, which enter Thursday a combined 22-2-6 (15-2-3). Boys teams have two league games remaining and the Orioles (11-1-2, 8-1-1) lead the Tigers (11-1-4, 7-1-2) by one point. The contest could also be key in the seedings of what looks to be a very competitive Western Massachusetts Division 2 Tournament.

South Hadley won the first meeting 2-0 on Sept. 21.

ETC. - Check out this week's Amherst Bulletin for Michael Wilkinson's story on Amherst Regional junior quarterback Justin Carey. ... After the Longmeadow field hockey team's 4-0 loss at Glastonbury on Wednesday, Frontier Regional became the sports' lone undefeated team in western Massachusetts. The Red Hawks host Greenfield in their regular season finale Friday at 7 p.m.

Jim Pignatiello can be reached at jpignatiello@gazettenet.com.