SHOULD TOURNEYS HAVE BEEN PLAYED? NO

Santa Fe Christian, Orange Glen score 135 points in football

LAS VEGAS

No one in college basketball is immune, no matter how blue the blood, no matter how bold the résumé, from a single COVID-19 test result sucking the air out of March Madness.

Just ask Duke. Just ask No. 11 Kansas. Just ask No. 16 Virginia.

On Friday alone, the Cavaliers and Jayhawks fattened a well-heeled list suffering through seasoncapping pandemic pain.

As casualties pile up, it’s fair to ask whether these conference tournaments should have been played at all in 2021. It’s fantastic drama, a spot on the calendar when Cleveland State can star alongside Ohio State. People pay attention to the Ramblers of Loyola, the Dragons of Drexel and the deliciously patriotic Flames of Liberty.

Moving into March without those NCAA-determining storylines sounds near blasphemous, given the country has salivated for sports normalcy. The agony and upsets leading to the NCAA Tournament provide the type of reality TV millions have craved as the pandemic loosens its grip.

This isn’t any March, however. This is a unique and utterly bizarre moment in time. These games are not the ones in need of full and focused protection.

As No. 19 San Diego State tipped off against Nevada on Friday night in a Mountain West Tournament semifinal here, it was impossible not to worry about the chance the Aztecs or any other team could face the same jolt as Virginia by breakfast. The NCAA Tour

nament is the end-all, the Hoops Holy Grail, the most golden of geese.

In mere days, Duke withdrew from the ACC Tournament and said it was ending its season after a positive test, while headliners like Kansas and Virginia scrambled to sort through NCAA protocols in time to qualify for next week’s Big Dance.

In that same small window, No. 1 seed North Carolina A&T was tripped up by the virus in the MidEastern Athletic Conference. All that wreckage came before the season’s flurry of games on the final weekend.

No one wants more teams to feel a dose of this singular March misery. Imagine the Aztecs, who have been so meticulous about safeguarding players and staff, being sidelined at the wire. Consider the heartbreak of missing out, again, after a once-in-ageneration team that soared to 30-2 a season ago was handed a lifetime of what-ifs.

As March bloomed, Aztecs coach Brian Dutcher shared concerns about make-up games in the Mountain West. He just as easily could have been talking about the conference tournament.

“COVID cost us the NCAA Tournament last year,” Dutcher said. “… I don’t want it to rear its head and all of a sudden we test positive either after our (trip last week to UNLV) or the conference tournament and we don’t get to go to the NCAA Tournament again because of COVID.”

What about Matt Mitchell and Jordan Schakel, program cornerstones, potentially being robbed of an irreplaceable experience at the apex of their college careers — not once but twice? What about senior transfer Terrell Gomez, who after scoring a season-high 20 points to ward off Wyoming in the quarterfinals, made his sole goal as clear as Buckingham Palace crystal?

On Nevada’s first possession Friday night, Schakel’s quick hands forced a loose ball, Mitchell raced it up court and found Gomez for a baseline jumper. Gomez happily, willingly and hungrily traded off individual stardom at CSUN to become a cog in the Aztecs’ NCAA Tournament-chasing machine.

“This is March now,” he said Thursday. “This is what I came here for. I’ve got to make the most of it.”

Though as few as five healthy players are required to play and travel parties can be trimmed, all involved in the tournament will be required to produce negative tests for seven consecutive days. That means Kansas and Virginia still have enough time to meet the requirement.

That window is closing now, though. Talk about shot-clock pressure.

Fears about potential NCAA Tournament impacts are not simply about teams falling to the virus, but those who could be greatly and irreparably diminished. Contact tracing through a member of the travel party has the potential to wipe out backcourts.

Think about the Aztecs limping into Indianapolis without Mitchell. Without Schakel. Without … Dutcher.

“I just think the risk of exposing ourselves to one more trip doesn’t benefit anybody if our goal is the NCAA Tournament and trying to have teams healthy for that event,” Dutcher recently said.

Keeping eyes on the prize means keeping pupils pointed at the NCAAs. The crushing economic ripples of losing last year’s tournament sent financial shock waves across the country. The event’s massive TV contract and the shares divvied between conferences and programs because of it constitutes critical, lifegiving blood.

If shutting down the conference tournaments for one lap are off the table, why not play a week earlier to allow more time for quarantining? Why not create more distance and cushion between those games and the NCAA Tournament?

Make-up games played by groups like the Mountain West eager to fulfill TV contracts made that impossible, of course, so chalk that up as another strike against the conference office that can’t shoot straight.

Losing teams on the cusp of, or during the NCAAs also would alter competitive fairness. Issues born out of conference tournaments could mean some teams skipping a game and advancing with fresh legs into the next round.

With so much at stake, the playing field would become anything but even.

Shield and insulate the NCAA Tournament, then work back from there. No? Ask Kansas and Virginia what they think, right about now. There’s the unfortunate likelihood other teams could collide with similar fates.

So now, the Aztecs and everyone else hold their collective breath.

For only one year with so much on the line, everyone could have breathed much easier.

Wild 4, Coyotes 0: Rookie Kirill Kaprizov recorded his first NHL hat trick and Cam Talbot made 25 saves for his first shutout of the season as Minnesota beat visiting Arizona.

Golden Knights 5, Blues 4 (OT): Reilly Smith’s overtime goal lifted visiting Vegas to a victory over St. Louis that snapped a two-game losing streak for the Golden Knights.

Avalanche 2, Kings 0: Mikko Rantanen had a goal and an assist, Philipp Grubauer stopped 18 shots for his fourth shutout of the season and host Colorado beat Los Angeles.

Oilers 6, Senators 2: Connor McDavid had a goal and two assists and host Edmonton beat Ottawa to sweep the three-game series and improve to 7-0 against the Senators this season.

Sharks 6, Ducks 0: Evander Kane had a goal and assist, while Devan Dubnyk made 34 saves to help San Jose rout host Anaheim.

Notable

The Blue Jackets on Friday acquired defenseman Mikko Lehtonen from the Maple Leafs for goaltender Veini Vehvilainen.

Lehtonen, a 27-year-old rookie, skated in his first NHL game on Jan. 18 against Winnipeg and earned his first career assist on Jan. 30 at Edmonton. The 24-year-old Vehvilainen made his NHL debut with the Blue Jackets on March 4.

Batter’s box: Down for a week with a flu bug, SS Fernando Tatis Jr. led off the game with a home run off A’s reliever Sergio Romo. Tatis flied out to right in the second inning and singled in the fifth before he was lifted for pinch-runner CJ Abrams. The next inning, Abrams hit his first homer of the spring, a three-run shot to left-center. … Brian O’Grady, in the lineup at first base, was 0-for-12 to start his spring before dropping a shift-beating bunt in the second inning. O’Grady also singled and walked in his next two plate appearances. … C Luis Campusano doubled in three at-bats.

Balls and strikes: RHP Chris Paddack allowed his first run of the spring, giving up a leadoff double to Chad Pinder in the third inning and allowing him to score on a grounder that snuck past 2B Jorge Mateo. Paddack struck out one, didn’t walk anyone and scattered three hits while throwing 28 of his 43 pitches for strikes. … RHP Emilio Pagan stranded a walk in a scoreless inning of work. … LHP Nick Ramirez allowed a run in two innings and RHP Evan Miller allowed three runs on four hits in the seventh. … RHP Parker Markel pitched a scoreless eighth inning.

Extra bases: Tucupita Marcano started for the first time in right field and made a throwing error when he missed the cutoff on a throw to the plate in the third inning. Marcano, who is hitting .412 this spring even after going 0-for-3 Friday, has appearances at second base (3), third base (1), shortstop (3), left field (3) and now right field. … Patrick Kivlehan made a sliding catch in left field to end the eighth inning; he was 0-for-4 at the plate. … Former Padres prospect Buddy Reed singled in two runs off Miller in the seventh inning to give the A’s a 5-4 lead as it began to rain. Reed was 1-for-2 in the game.

On deck: LHP Adrian Morejan will make his third appearance of the spring at 12:10 p.m. today against the Diamondbacks at Peoria Sports Complex.

Moments before Santa Fe Christian and Orange Glen kicked off in the first game for both teams in 480 days because the 2020 football season was postponed by COVID-19, Eagles running back Stephen Britton couldn’t suppress his emotions.

“Right here!” Britton screamed on the SFC sideline Friday afternoon. “This is what we’ve been waiting for.”

Then, on the first play from scrimmage, Britton took a pitch, burst around the left side, wiggled past two would-be tacklers and didn’t stop until crossing the goal line for a 56yard touchdown.

The play epitomized a wild, who-can-score-next, offensive slugfest as Santa Fe Christian romped to an 81-54 win. The 135 points set a San Diego Section record for most points scored in a 11-man game, shattering the old mark of 119 set in 1999 when Rancho Bernardo beat West Hills 71-48.

SFC’s 81 points eclipsed the school record that dated to a 69-6 win over Mountain Empire in 2002.

Coaches and players, though, weren’t talking about records. They talked about the sheer joy of playing football again.

“In spite of the score, no matter who won or who lost, you saw the camaraderie between the teams,” said Santa Fe Christian head coach Jon Wallace. “It was clean play. The kids had fun. They had anticipated this for so long.”

“Oh, my God,” said SFC kicker Ian Austin, who booted 10 extra points and a field goal. “The atmosphere, seeing the fans in the background, my brothers around me. It felt a little like normal in a time when nothing’s normal.”

Probably no one enjoyed the game more than Britton. On Sept. 20, 2019, he rushed for 310 yards and five touchdowns against La Jolla Country Day. The next week he was returning the opening kickoff, made a cut and his knee buckled.

He suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament and his season was over. On Friday, he proved the injury was in the past, rushing for 252 yards on 19 carries and scoring four touchdowns.

“I promised myself I’d be better than I was,” he said. “I get chills thinking about that first run. There was no better feeling than taking it to the house.”

Santa Fe Christian led 35-6 late in the first quarter and it looked like the game was bound for fourth-quarter running clock. Contributing to the damage, Orange Glen junior quarterback Dennis Andrew lost a fumble on the Patriots’ first play from scrimmage.

Andrew recovered rather well. With the Patriots spreading the field with fleet receivers, Andrew completed 28 of 43 passes for 505 yards and seven touchdowns. The TDs covered 79, 57, 48, 70, 29, 15 and 10 yards.

“He’s a good one,” said Orange Glen head coach Jason Patterson. “He’s a player.”

As for Britton’s comeback performance, Wallace said, “We talked about what motivated us was love and gratitude, not resentment and bitterness (about not playing last fall). I think the way he played represented that.

“He was having a blast like a little kid.”