Jamestown’s Demontez Loman, left, is fouled on a drive to the basket by a Dayton player during action in The Basketball League at Jamestown Community College last Sunday. P-J photo by Scott Kindberg

CELORON — Representatives of the Jamestown Jackals met with members of the media to discuss The Basketball League’s decision to suspend the remainder of the 2020 season due to the outbreak of COVID-19 on Thursday evening at the Chautauqua Harbor Hotel.

“We want to make sure that we put forth the safety of our players, our staff and the community as we move forward with the conclusion of the season,” Kayla Crosby, executive director of #IntegrityFirst and Jackals’ general manager, said. “We were hoping to move straight into the conclusion of a playoff series next weekend, but with the recent announcement from the NBA, it has been decided that the season will be completely ending.”

Crosby said discussions began as early as last week regarding the possibility of a shortened season, but a decision was ultimately made to end play completely after the NBA’s decision to suspend the season Wednesday evening.

“We wanted to still try and figure things out and give the guys a couple of games and actually play out for a national championship,” she said.

Added Crosby: “Then, with the announcement by the NBA last night, that’s when the final decision was made that we really need to err on the side of caution and that we’re not encouraging a lot of travel in big groups.”

Crosby added the news came as a shock to members of the team, who had compiled an 8-3 season and a second-place standing in the league 11 games in.

“It’s been difficult,” she said. “Overall, it’s disappointing because the intention was to have six more weeks of basketball. Things were looking very promising to continue and finish out the season at the top of the league and go into playoffs very comfortably. We said from the very beginning that our goal was to be national champions, so it’s unfortunate that the virus is what had to stop us from that goal we set at the beginning.”

Head coach Leventrice Gray echoed Crosby’s sentiments.

“I began to realize how serious this is,” Gray said regarding the severity of the virus. “I have been hearing a lot of things, watching the news and seeing things on social media, but when it actually hits home, it makes you view it differently. Of course, I want to coach because these guys want to play basketball. If you tell them there’s a game tomorrow, they’ll suit up tomorrow and be there. But, at the same time, it was an adjustment and a fast adjustment, too. We didn’t have much time to process, but we’re here now and we understand the reasons why.”

Still, Gray can’t help but wonder what the rest of the season might have been for the team.

“They began to gell together,” he said. “We had a lot of adversity, but they continued to push and proceeded to be great, high-character guys in a lot of situations where it could be tough.”

Despite the move to cancel the rest of the season, #IntegrityFirst board president, Richard Hartmann said he was encouraged by the early conversations that have taken place about the future of the organization.

“Last night, we had an emergency board meeting,” he said. “Once we got past all the sadness and we got down to business, we got some new board members and this board is very excited about wanting to keep this program going. We stopped talking about this year and we’re already talking about next year.”

Crosby was also optimistic, citing Sunday’s 124-112 victory over Dayton that filled the Physical Education Center at Jamestown Community College to capacity.

“The environment that we had on Sunday is truly what we’re looking for,” she said. “We had all of the seats full and had it standing-room-only on the track at Jamestown Community College. Just being able to create that environment for our players to play in that environment and just the overall experience, we want to continue to build The Basketball League so that every team in the league is able to provide that opportunity for their players. We want to continue to build what we’re doing in Jamestown.”

“This is a very hospitable town,” Gray said of the region. “When I started to make my rounds around Jamestown and started to coach, it was always a warm reception here. No matter the places I’ve been, I’ve made great relationships here because there are good people here. That’s the edge that has Jamestown has on a lot of the other communities.”

But Thursday’s news also creates a period of uncertainty for members of the entire team, added Jackals guard Matthew Hart, an Orchard Park native.

“Obviously right now, there are no leagues right now,” he said. “Professional leagues everywhere are all suspending their games, so as a basketball player there are not many opportunities right now currently. But, I’m just going to keep training and keep working and go back home and see what happens.”

Crosby noted that several team members will remain in the area for the time being and that she looks forward to having them be a continued presence in the community.

That presence will include an end-of-the-season dinner slated for tonight at the Harbor Hotel. Crosby noted that those interested should RSVP to her at kayla@jamestownjackals.com.

“It’s a sponsorship opportunity to raise funds for the expenses that were incurred throughout the season,” she said.

Added Hartmann, “It’s a great opportunity to be with these guys and see the recognition they’re going to get, but also to encourage people to come on board with us.”