Darn coronavirus.

It's been well-documented what it's taken away: high school and college graduations, social gatherings, all sense of normalcy.

And most importantly, lives.

Pulling the plug on the PIAA Basketball Tournament seems so insignificant when compared to all of those things.

But the tournament was fun. Sports are supposed to be fun. And I want this column to be fun.

So — just for fun — let's project what it might have taken for Butler's boys basketball team to complete a run to the PIAA Class A championship.

First, let's rewind. The Golden Tornado were on a magical ride through the WPIAL and PIAA tourneys. That ride could have ended before it ever left the station as Butler had to rally from a five-point deficit in the final minue of regulation to take Peters Township into overtime in its first postseason game.

A coast-to-coast drive and layup by Ethan Morton at the horn forced a second overtime before the Tornado pulled out a 78-76 victory.

That was followed by a nip-and-tuck battle with Upper St. Clair in the WPIAL semifinals before Butler secured an 82-78 overtime win.

Butler's 70-61 WPIAL title win over Mt. Lebanon was less dramatic, but most exciting. Then the state tourney begins with a 93-90 overtime win over Central Dauphin, Devin Carney exploding for 39 points, Mattix Clement 15, Morton 13 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists, Mason Montag 12 points and 10 boards.

Then came the 77-73 win over USC in a rematch, the Tornado wiping out a 12-point deficit in the final seven minutes.

Talk about momentum.

A 17-game winning streak and an entire town behind them, the Tornado would have faced McDowell in the quarterfinals.

The Trojans were 23-3 and would have brought a much-anticipated matchup of nationally noted recruits in Morton and McDowell's 6-foot-7 guard-forward William Jeffress. The latter has received numerous Division I offers. As a junior, he averaged 25.5 points per game and is McDowell's career scoring leader with 1,576 points.

Like Morton, he's headed for a 2,000-point career. They might have guarded each other.

It could have been epic. A snow and ice storm canceled the regular season meeting between these teams.

Had Butler won, two other district champions may have stood in its path. A projected semifinal game loomed against Wilson, which would have been 29-1 and on a 23-game win streak. Wilson plays games in the 50's and 60's, point-wise.

Get past them and the state title game foe could have been Methacton, 27-2, a team that outscored its foes by 900 points this year.

What a crowd at the GIANT Center in Hershey. One could only guess how many thousands of Butler fans would make the trip.

We'll never know.

Darn coronavirus.

John Enrietto is sports editor of the Butler Eagle