The snow keeps falling, the calendar keeps turning — and the WPIAL playoffs are coming.

Inclement weather has ground WPIAL basketball to a halt for nearly a week with the district's playoff meeting scheduled for next week.

"We're running out of time, but all you can do is roll with the punches," Mars boys coach Rob Carmody said. "If nobody can play by Thursday, the WPIAL may be forced to move the meeting back again."

WPIAL executive director Tim O'Malley announced Tuesday that the playoff meeting originally scheduled for Feb. 16 would not be held until Feb. 17. The move enables teams to use Monday as a final day to play section games.

Butler's boys are taking advantage of that move. The Golden Tornado (14-3, 7-3) have not played since their 92-64 loss to North Allegheny last Tuesday and won't play again until they host Seneca Valley in a girls-boys doubleheader Friday night.

Butler will travel to Central Catholic on Monday, six days after that game's originally scheduled date.

"We moved the (Seneca Valley-Butler) girls game from Thursday to Friday to keep Thursday open, in case our girls game at Moon on Wednesday has to be moved again," Butler athletic director Curt Phillips said. "A lot of schools are doing a lot of jostling around right now."

The Tornado boys didn't want to schedule a section game Saturday as Butler remains hopeful of keeping its rescheduled date at non-section Fox Chapel that night.

Butler's girls will not make up their canceled game with Fox Chapel, a would-be showdown of top five WPIAL Quad-A teams that would have helped the winner earn a higher playoff seed.

"We've already lost two games and I'd hate to lose a third," Butler boys coach Matt Clement said. "The kids' reward for practice is the games and you want them to be able to play as many as possible.

"I'm not worried about the no games right now as I am about the no practice. We had school Monday, so we were able to practice Monday and that helped us."

Butler's boys have lost three of four games after getting off to a 13-0 start.

"This lull in the action has happened at a good time for us, actually," Clement admitted. "We were struggling and now, at least in terms of momentum, everybody's going to be at 0-0 when we resume."

Knoch's boys are in a precarious position. The Knights (8-10, 3-6) are half a game out of a playoff spot in Section 1-AAA and still have three section games on their schedule.

"We've practiced once since Friday," Knoch coach Chris Andreassi said. "Our routine has been broken up and we may have to play three section games in three days.

"We're not alone in this situation. The teams that don't let it affect them tage when we do play again."

By comparison, Mars' girls (11-9, 7-4) only have one section game remaining. If their current schedule stands, the Lady Planets will have played one game in two weeks by the time they take the court for their playoff opener.

"We're trying to find another team to play between now and then, but it's tough because teams are scrambling to get their section games in," Mars girls coach Tony Howard said.

Carmody has been coaching high school basketball for 12 years and said he can't remember being shut down for such an extended period. His team hasn't practiced together in five days.

"I can't say how the team is going to respond because we haven't been through something like this," he said. "As a coach, you wonder if their legs are going to be there next time we play.

"One thing we have that older-generation coaches never had is instant access to the kids via emails or texts ... Our guys have been hitting the YMCA, shooting and running on their own ... They're self-motivated that way. They just want to play."

Butler's boys will go from not playing in 10 days to playing three games in four days.

"That's OK. We're talking about 16, 17 and 18-year-olds excited about playing basketball," Clement said. "Especially the seniors — these next two weeks may be their last chance to play.

"If you can't get ready for something like that, you shouldn't be playing."

WPIAL "pigtail" and/or first round playoff games may begin as early as Feb. 18, the night after the playoff meeting.