When the boys soccer coaches hatched the idea of playing a West Region tournament back in 2005, it seemed unnecessary. Why bother with a regional tournament when there are only six teams and four are headed to state?

But Jamestown illustrated how flawed the current setup is by "earning" a state tournament berth with its victory over Minot on Saturday - the Blue Jays' first win of the season.

No disrespect to Jamestown. For the second straight year, the Blue Jays made the most of the second chance the regional tournament provides, and they deserve credit for that.

But even Jamestown coach Shea Durham acknowledged the system needs some work.

"I think the West Region tournament is here to stay," Durham said. "I just don't know if the format is the greatest. It can be fixed."

It looks like the coaches are at least going to try.

Perhaps the biggest problem with the current setup is the way the regular seasons' third-place and fourth-place finishers are put at a huge disadvantage.

Assuming all goes to form on the opening day of the tourney - as it did this weekend - the third and fourth seeds play three times in about 30 hours. The fifth and sixth seeds play twice.

That's exactly what happened to Minot and Bismarck. You would think fatigue played at least some role in Minot's loss to Jamestown - especially considering the Magicians scored 10 goals on the Blue Jays when they played a week before.

When a team finishes one point out of first place - as did Bismarck - and has a tougher road to state than one that goes winless, that's a seriously flawed system.

BHS coach Tim Green said there is likely to be a change starting next season. One scenario would have the teams that finish first and second getting automatic berths to state, and the other four teams squaring off in one-and-done qualifiers.

There was nothing wrong with the pre-2005 system of sending the four teams that prove themselves worthy over the course of the regular season.That's what the East Region still does.

But with two automatic qualifiers and single-elimination for the rest, you would still be rewarding the best teams and giving Cinderella a chance.

That's not a bad compromise.

Peaking at right time

While you can quibble with the fairness of Jamestown going to state with one win, it's a pretty terrific story nonetheless.

The Blue Jays managed to take Bismarck to overtime on Friday, then beat Minot when it mattered.

Last season Jamestown had just one victory on the field - plus two by forfeit - before the Blue Jays shocked St. Mary's in a state qualifier.

Jamestown pulled out that one thanks to its incredible goaltender, Phil Boerger, and a lot of luck. Jamestown didn't manage a single shot in regulation or overtime.

This year's team is different - and considerably better.

That was evident when Jamestown tied St. Mary's earlier this season. Record aside, this year's trip to state isn't considered the fluke last year's was.

Jamestown had just four players returning, but Durham credited seniors like Erick Paiement and Tim Smith for help keeping things positive.

When Paiement shifted from center-mid to forward, it gave the Jamestown offense a boost. Paiement scored nine goals over the last seven games.

"Last year was a miracle," Durham said. "I don't think that's ever going to happen again. This year, I think we have a chance to beat Minot any time that we play.

"… We're not a zero-win team," he added. "We're not a six seed. We played well all season. … I'm really happy for the way we came on lately."

(Lou Babiarz is the Tribune sports editor.)