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NYSPHSAA Head: State Tournaments Still Possible

Well, hold on a minute.

Dr. Robert Zayas, the executive director of the New York State Public High School Athletic Association, hasn’t ruled out the possibility that winter championships, which were postponed indefinitely on Thursday because of the coronavirus pandemic, will be played at some point in the future.

In a Tweet on Friday morning, Zayas said: “At this time, schools should take direction from their local health department as to proceeding with practice. When we are able to resume the winter championships, teams will be given at least a week to prepare. Understand, however, that this situation continues to rapidly change.”

Zayas also Tweeted Friday morning what he termed a “national perspective” on high school basketball tournaments and how individual states have ruled on them.

Those states that have postponed them are, in addition to New York, Arkansas, Arizona, Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, Vermont and West Virginia.

Those states that have canceled them are California, Connecticut, Illinois, Kansas, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon, Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

Those states with tournaments in progress, with fan limits, are Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota and Tennessee.

Finally, those states with tournaments in progress, with no limits, are Louisiana and Montana.

Three area basketball teams — Panama and Dunkirk girls, and Sherman boys — were scheduled to play in NYSPHSAA Far West Regional games this weekend — but the contests were postponed indefinitely on Thursday. The Dunkirk girls bowling team, as well as Jamestown’s Brandon Michael and Falconer’s Matt Gullotti, were scheduled to compete in that sport’s state championships in Syracuse.

None of those teams or individuals will be doing so this weekend, but that doesn’t mean they won’t at some point down the road.

Stay tuned.

SENIOR ALL-STAR

GAMES POSTPONED

The Executive Committee of Board 39 of the International Association of Approved Basketball Officials has decided to indefinitely postpone the Chautauqua County Senior All-Star Games, which were scheduled for next week at SUNY Fredonia.

The announcement, which was based on New York state-imposed restrictions on large public gatherings, was made Friday afternoon.

According to the executive committee’s email, it is unclear whether the games, which were originally set for Wednesday at Dods Hall, will be rescheduled.

Also, the New York State Federation of Secondary School Athletic Associations has canceled the Federation Tournament of Champions at Fordham University.

COLLEGE

Jamestown Community was scheduled to open its softball season today with a doubleheader at Edison (Ohio) CC, but the games were canceled on Friday morning, according to athletic director George Sisson.

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