Coaches, players react to basketball season pause

A day after high school basketball teams hit “play,” they were forced to tap the “pause” button.

Players, coaches and fans now wait anxiously to see what happens next.

What we do know is that there will be no more games or practices this calendar year, this after Gov. Tom Wolf announced last Thursday that all school and youth sports are suspended until Jan. 4 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The order went into effect Saturday, which allowed some teams to play Friday.

Fall sports teams got in their seasons, state tournaments and all, despite a delayed start. Will basketball teams, some of whom had their state title runs derailed by a shutdown in the spring, get an opportunity to play a season, as well?

Here is what some players and coaches had to say about the postponement:

• Emma Pavelek, Beaver girls player: “My team and I are definitely heartbroken. We’ve worked so hard this year and it felt like for a split second we might have a normal season. It’s hard because we all are trying our best to be positive and keep progressing as a team, but not being able to be together makes that extremely difficult. I feel so deeply for everyone missing out, but especially the class of 2021. Not only are they missing out on school, prom and their last chance to be kids, but now a lot of their season is getting taken away, as well.”

• Dante Spadafora, OLSH boys player: “At first, I automatically had a flashback to last season, so I just thought of the worst. … Overall, my thought was just nothing but expected because COVID has already taken away so much from us and I feel as if it’s coming back for more. So all we can do is pray for some sort of miracle at this point.”

• Kevin Kovach, McKeesport boys coach: “It’s frustrating for everyone. Things were going really well, I thought. We were taking every precaution. It’s understandable with the numbers, what they’re doing. Hopefully when we restart, we won’t have to stop again. Just give us the game we love at some point.”

• Jonna Burke, Bethel Park girls coach: “It’s just a hot mess because every district is doing their own thing. And of course the schools who have been practicing

since Nov. 20 don’t want any intervention from the PIAA. Truthfully, I think it’s created a divide amongst us coaches. I only want what’s best for these kids. I’ll still be a coach next year, but these seniors don’t get another shot, so that’s who I’m looking out for.”

• Corynne Hauser, Rochester girls player: “With seeing fall sports get through their season and having the WPIAL and state tournament, I really had faith that all winter sports would be fine. Then being shut down a day before games were expected to start was very upsetting. My team and I are staying positive that we will be able to resume play Jan. 4.”

• Antonio Epps, South Allegheny boys player: “I wasn’t too happy when I first heard the news. Like everyone else, I wanted to get started with the season and play games. It is definitely some adversity everyone is going through. Something like this has never been seen before and it is definitely rough. I know as far as our team, we’re going to stay committed and look forward to getting back out there soon.”

• Jordan Watson, West Greene girls coach: “I feel that with the pause to the season we must simply control what we can control. Everyone is in the same boat. It can go one of two ways. If the players take it upon themselves to stay in shape and keep working out, we will hopefully pick up Jan. 4 right where we left off. If they decide to lay around for three weeks, then it will be like starting the season over from scratch. … At the high school level we don’t get a redshirt year, so everyone wants to play, especially the senior class.”

• Ta’Mere Robinson, Brashear boys player: “I feel bad for the full-time hoopers who’ve been waiting all year round for basketball and now there’s a pause. I was definitely looking forward to this season just to do something other than working out. I just hope the pause isn’t how it was for football. We went from having to wait until June, then there was another pause until July and then another pause until August.”

• Lizzy Groetsch, North Allegheny girls player: “My teammates and I have been taking every possible precaution and doing everything in our control to be safe, so it was disappointing to hear about everything being paused. However, we are all staying positive and are very hopeful that we will be back in the gym on Jan. 4. I think that what we have the chance to accomplish this year as a team will be worth the wait and I would not want to go on this unique journey with anyone else. While we can’t be in the gym together right now, we are still meeting virtually and doing everything we can to ensure that when our time comes, we will be ready. We are just praying that we get the chance.”

• Eric Astorino, Ambridge boys coach: “I am not making light of the COVID pandemic. This is a serious illness which has affected everyone on some level. But in high school basketball and winter sports, the student-athletes’ age group are less susceptible to contracting the virus. To play basketball games in a gym with no attendance would be the best route. There is a wealth of technological platforms to watch the games as a parent or fan. By continuing to postpone or cancel a season would be detrimental to seniors’ recruitment. Also, keeping these young athletes confined to their homes not only has a bearing on physical health to build up immunity to fight off any illness, but it negatively impacts their mental state, as well.

• Peyton Pinkney, Woodland Hills girls player: “I think the shutdown is affecting me and the rest of the 2021 class. This is our last year of high school basketball. Our last year playing each other before we go to college. So not being able to play for three weeks hurts in a different way.”

• Adrian Batts, Jeannette boys coach: “We are obviously disappointed, but most importantly it’s the safety of everyone first. I just hope that we are able to play a full season for our seniors. Some of our guys had the opportunity to play a full football season and win a championship. We are hoping to get the same opportunity. … I asked our guys to be very responsible and smart during this break, following all the protocols. We will talk virtually a few times a week as a team. So I’m praying that Jan. 4 comes and we can get back to playing without interruptions.”