MCT semis postponed after Ewing schools close
All four games now scheduled to take place today at CURE Insurance Arena
In more than 30 years as a coach and teacher at Ewing High, Shelly Dearden has never had to guide kids through a situation quite like this one.
The semifinal boys and girls basketball games of the Mercer County Tournament were postponed after Ewing canceled school on Tuesday due to a security threat related to the 43-year-old man with ties to the area who allegedly killed three people and wounded five others in a shooting on the campus of Michigan State University on Monday night.
“Due to unforeseen circumstances the Ewing Public School District is closed today,” the MCTA basketball committee said in a statement. “The Mercer County Basketball Tournament semifinal games will be moved from Tuesday, February 14th to Wednesday, February 15th.
“The semifinal game times will stay the same as previously scheduled. The MCT finals will still be played on Thursday, 2/16. The Mercer County Tournament Basketball Association has no further comment on this situation.”
Both of Ewing’s teams were scheduled to play semifinal games on Tuesday against Notre Dame at Trenton’s CURE Insurance Arena. The boys game was to tip off at 4:30, followed by the girls game at 6.
“Obviously you’ve had snowouts and things like that, but this is a totally different situation,” said Dearden, who coaches the boys team. “The most important thing in anybody’s mind should be the safety of the children, the safety of the teachers, the safety of the coaches. In this situation, that’s what you have to take first into consideration — period.”
Dearden planned to meet
with her players virtually later on Tuesday and again Wednesday morning because the district shutdown prohibited physical contact.
“Just to make sure everybody is alright and everybody is on the same page,” Dearden said. “We have notified our parents that the games were postponed until tomorrow. So the parents are aware of it. I don’t know if they know any more, but the parents are aware that it’s going to be postponed until (Wednesday).”
Dearden anticipated all of her players being available for the semifinal game as of Tuesday morning but noted “that can change” pending any complications during the shutdown.
The Ewing boys were shut down for more than a week early in the 2021 season because of COVID-19 exposure and met via Zoom during that time. So while this situation is unique, the players and coaches are used to staying in touch from afar.
“I think the school district is doing a great job keeping
us informed and doing the things that they’re supposed to do in these kinds of situations,” Dearden said. “Unfortunately it seems to be the craziness of the world right now. I hate to say it, but you have to adjust to what’s going on in the world and what’s going on in your own backyard. You have to adjust to diversity, and this is just another diverse thing that we have to adjust to. It’s just the way it is, and we’ve just got to make the positive out of it. As of right now we’re still gonna be able to play (Wednesday), which is a plus.”
The other two semifinal games — a girls game between Hightstown and Pennington at 3 p.m. and the boys game that pits Trenton against Hamilton West at 7:30 p.m. — were also pushed back as to not create a competitive advantage where one team would have a day of rest.
Tickets for the event can still be purchased via ticketmaster or at the door for $10, and all games will be broadcast online on WBCB.