State cancels high school basketball finals in Sacramento over coronavirus concerns
The coronavirus pandemic has prompted the California Interscholarstic Federation to cease the high school basketball season a day before the start of the 40th state finals at Golden 1 Center.
The cancellation of the CIF event includes Sheldon’s game against O’Dowd on Thursday for the NorCal Open championship.
The announcement from CIF Executive Director Ron Nocetti comes a day after the NBA suspended play in an effort to best limit the spread of the virus that has resulted in sporting events across the country from being held without fans. On Wednesday, the NCAA announced it will have its March Madness tournament without fans, including next weekend’s two rounds at Sacramento’s Golden 1 Center. On Thursday, conferences such as the Big Ten and SEC canceled their postseason tournaments.
The virus has left a cloud over the CIF tournament since the start of the Northern California tournament, resulting in boys teams from Lincoln and Riordan of San Francisco and the Menlo girls team of Atherton to withdraw. The virus also sent the Sheldon boys basketball team on a strange odyssey.
Sheldon, the top-seeded team in the NorCal Open division, on Tuesday was cleared by the Elk Grove Unified School District to resume its season after it was withdrawn from the field Saturday by the district over coronavirus concerns. Sheldon on Wednesday evening received word from the EGUSD that it could play Thursday in the NorCal Open finals against Bishop O’Dowd of Oakland.
That game was originally set for Laney College in Oakland but was scrapped Wednesday afternoon by the Bishop O’Dowd and the Oakland Diocese when Alameda County announced that there will not be any gatherings of 1,000 more people in the region. It was rescheduled for Cosumnes River College in Sacramento, the original venue as Sheldon is the top seed, but the fluid nature of this unprecedented situation kept the remainder of the event in doubt.
Said the CIF in a statement, “This decision was made after careful deliberation and in the primary interest of protecting the health and safety of our member schools, fans, and most importantly, our student-athletes. While we understand this decision is disappointing, we strongly believe that the opportunity to compete in this event does not outweigh our obligation to place the health and safety of our member schools and school communities above all else.
“We want to recognize the hard work and commitment our student-athletes have made to reach the State Basketball Championships. The impact of COVID-19 created many unexpected challenges during this year’s tournament season, and we want to thank everyone involved for their flexibility, patience, and commitment in providing our student-athletes a great experience despite this unique situation.”
Sheldon coach Joey Rollings texted his players the news. Some already knew through social media.
“We expected this to happen after the NBA suspended the season,” he said. “We felt there was a slight chance we could play (Thursday night) but we understand what the CIF is doing - safety.”
Rollings said he was pleased that his senior-dominated team was allowed to get the NorCal game in against Dublin, which finished with the Huskies rallying from eight down in the fourth quarter to win 59-58. Players celebrated. Coaches celebrated. Fans who drove two hours celebrated. Administrators, too.
“My kids never quit,” Rollings said,. “We got to go out on an exciting note. We wish we could play another game, but we can’t control that. Our kids seem to understand. They’re disappointed, but kids are resilient.”
The last time the CIF cancelled a state championship event was the track and field championships in 1945 due to World War II (also no state track fianls in 1942, ‘43 and ‘44 due to the war).
Added Nocetti during a call with The Bee, “Primarily, first and foremost, we had to place safety on member schools. We talked about all the possibilities, and the goal was to exhaust all possibilities. We came to a conclusion in talking with our executive committe that we had to make sure, no matter what, that safety comes above all.”
The CIF postponed playoff football games last fall due to smokey air from the Butte County fires, pushing the schedule back a week. There was no such option for state basketball, Nocetti said.
“We were realying on health authorities across the state, and we were told that we were most likely going to be in a situation with much better air quality afer a week. There’s nothing that points to that chase here in a week or two, or maybe longer.”
Nocetti said he will meet, in person or by phone, with the 10 section commissioners across the state that govern high school sports to discuss the status of spring sports.
This story was originally published March 12, 2020 at 9:16 AM with the headline "State cancels high school basketball finals in Sacramento over coronavirus concerns."