‘We would be outside in the snow if they told us to.’ High school basketball gets underway.
High school basketball got underway across Kentucky on Monday, and while there were some cancellations because of COVID-19 concerns, most games tipped off as scheduled.
Correction: There were no tipoffs. All game’s first possessions in regulation and overtime were decided by coin flips under the Kentucky High School Athletic Association’s virus guidelines.
At Sayre, the Spartans’ boys team knocked off last year’s All “A” Classic finalist, Frankfort, 58-52 with no spectators in attendance due to COVID-19 precautions. Sayre expects to have limited attendance for player families in its tiny 600-capacity gym as the season moves forward. Monday’s game streamed live on Sayre’s YouTube channel.
The lineup announcements took place without cheerleaders or team tunnels. The scorers’ table placed the scorekeeper and announcer behind a plexiglass shield. There were no handshakes before or after the game. Cheers from each bench provided the atmosphere. That was enough.
“It’s awkward. It’s very awkward,” said a masked-up Sayre Coach Rob Goodman, who gave his pregame, halftime and postgame talks to his players on the gym floor with his team socially distanced in seats and bleachers rather than in their locker room. “For a chance for these guys to play, we would do anything. We would be outside in the snow if they told us to go out there and play.”
Basketball became the first sport disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic in March as worries about the illness’ spread gripped the world. The girls’ state basketball tournament got canceled just over midway through its first round. The boys’ state tournament never took the Rupp Arena floor.
Many schools beginning play Monday put in attendance restrictions with no ticket sales at the gate and fans limited to a varying number of people with ties to a game participant, as was done for fall high school sports.
On the boys’ online KHSAA schedule Monday, three games were listed as a “COVID Cancelation.” On the girls’ side, there were two.
Teams including Boyle County, Christian County, Clay County, Estill County, East Carter, Edmonson County, Fleming County, Robertson County and Warren East paused their seasons either due to a COVID-19 concern on their team or because of their community’s rate of spread as indicated on Kentucky’s COVID-19 incidence rate map, which continues to show the vast majority of counties still in “red” or “critical” status.
When the KHSAA delayed the start of basketball season, originally scheduled to begin in late November, it was hoped the COVID-19 incidence rate would decline. And it has in some areas, but the state remains mostly red.
The question remains as to how long schools districts will allow their teams to play against the standing advice of the KHSAA and the state departments of education and public health, which during the fall sports seasons recommended schools in “red” counties shut down their athletics programs. Those “recommendations,” however, are not binding, and school districts have been allowed by the KHSAA and other state authorities to make their own decisions on whether to play any sport since those activities resumed.
In Louisville, Jefferson County’s Public Schools’ teams have remained shuttered with a school board decision possibly coming Tuesday night on when they can begin practice and play. Current proposals have no Jefferson County public schools team playing games until at least Feb. 1. Jefferson County includes some of the top teams in the state, including Herald-Leader boys’ preseason No. 1 Male, and Herald-Leader preseason girls’ No. 1 Butler.
Dozens of regular season games in football, volleyball and soccer were canceled due to “red status” concerns late in each of their seasons. So far, that does not seem to be the case for basketball. Most school districts allowed their fall sports teams to play in postseason games despite “red status” concerns.
Scott County counted among the school districts that did not play regular-season games against teams from “red” counties during the football, volleyball and soccer seasons. Scott County has since become a “red” county itself, although its status has changed to orange and back over the last week.
The Scott County girls’ game at home against Paul Laurence Dunbar remained on the schedule Tuesday night with fans limited to families of players and no public sales. Scott County’s boys’ game at Madison Central also remained scheduled.
“We’re playing all home and away games regardless of red county status, today” said DT Wells, Scott County’s district athletics director, who noted that high school coaches as staffs are doing all they can to make playing as safe as possible. “It could change. Every decision we make is fluid. There’s no concrete decisions. What we have to do is make decisions in the best interest of our staff and students, and, right now, it’s in the best interest to play the games.”
The feeling at Sayre on Monday night was a mix of relief that basketball has resumed and concern about getting the season in as the KHSAA was able to do with all of its fall sports. There was gratitude for the chance to get going even with an abbreviated schedule. For the players, it’s about whatever games they can get in: this win and how to get the next.
“It feels pretty good,” said Sayre’s Zander Collett, who scored a team-high 18 points in the Spartans’ win. “We haven’t played in about 10 or 11 months, so to come back and win the game, especially when we were down at half, it means a lot. We worked really hard … Today was a good win, but we’ve got to focus on the future.”
This story was originally published January 5, 2021 at 10:37 AM.
