PIAA postpones pair of games
Wednesday has been a day like no other in the history of the PIAA, or Pennsylvania high school basketball.
Milton Hershey, the host for Wilson’s Class 6A second-round boys game, pulled out hours before Wednesday’s scheduled tipoff. Another school, Mount Lebanon, is refusing to play Cheltenham because of coronavirus concerns.
Both games were postponed until Thursday by the PIAA, though there are uncertainties about each.
Reading High initially agreed to host the Wilson game, then informed the PIAA it would not. As of 4 p.m. there was no definitive word on the site of the game.
Mount Lebanon is scheduled to play Cheltenham at 7 at Chambersburg but it uncertain as to whether Mount Lebanon will appear. Early Wednesday it threatened not to play.
“Our stance has not changed,” Mount Lebanon athletic director John Grogan wrote in an email to the the Reading Eagle Wednesday afternoon.
He referred to a statement that read, in part: “In that we can not ensure the health and safety of our students, coaches, and community, the (school) district administration could see no other viable scenario to permit our team’s participation.”
If Mount Lebanon does not agree to play at the proposed time and site, it will forfeit the game, according to a PIAA official.
Because the four teams are coincidentally grouped in the same quadrant of the bracket, with the winners meeting in the state quarterfinals Saturday, there will no competitive advantage for any of them. Unless, of course, Mount Lebanon doesn’t show. Then Cheltenham gets a free pass to the quarterfinals.
Mount Lebanon’s concerns were raised when Cheltenham closed for the week for deep cleaning, because of coronavirus issues. School district officials said the action was taken because a district parent was the caregiver to a patient with a presumptive case of COVID-19.
On Tuesday, Coatesville informed the PIAA that it would not host the WilsonLower Merion game. Milton Hershey, which hosted a doubleheader Tuesday involving Muhlenberg, initially accepted the Wilson game, then changed course, leaving the PIAA scrambling Wednesday for a solution.
Milton Hershey agreed to host a girls game Wednesday.
With sites becoming more difficult to find because of growing coronavirus concerns, the conclusion of the tournament could be in peril. Following the quarterfinals on Friday and Saturday, the PIAA will need to find sites for 24 semifinals (boys and girls, across six classifications) on Monday and Tuesday.
Mark Byers, chief operating officer of the PIAA, said that Giant Center in Hershey, which will host all 12 championship games, remains available.
Earlier this week, Connecticut’s governing body canceled its state basketball tournaments, which had already started.
Byers did not want to speculate about such a possibility in Pennsylvania.
“I don’t think we’ve reached that point yet,” he said. “We can only go with the facts we have. We’ll take it hour by hour and rely on the Department of Health to supply guidance.”
Lower Merion was closed Tuesday for a deep clean. The school re-opened Wednesday, and a school official said the basketball team will be allowed to take part in the game against Wilson.