Hoop tourney on hold
March Sadness.
Less than 24 hours after the highest of highs, three Butler County basketball teams received sobering news.
The PIAA was pressing pause on its winter sports championships.
In response to the coronavirus pandemic, the PIAA Board of Directors voted unanimously Thursday morning to suspend the state basketball tournament, as well at swimming and diving, for a minimum of two weeks.
The postponement puts the Butler boys, the North Catholic boys and the North Catholic girls basketball teams in limbo.
All three won state second-round games Wednesday night to advance.
“In the grand scheme of things, it had to be done,” said Butler coach Matt Clement, who watched his team rally from 10 points down in the fourth quarter for a 77-73 victory over Upper St. Clair. “It's cliche, but what are we going to do about it? We're not going to let external factors affect how we play if we play again.”
That may be easier said than done.
The Golden Tornado, though, are trying to stay positive.
“Obviously, this is an unprecedented situation that none of us have ever seen and the health and safety of everyone is most important,” said Butler senior guard Ethan Morton. “We will just have to play it by ear and hope for the best.”
Butler didn't practice Thursday and there were no plans to get together in the gym until Monday.
Butler athletic director Bill Mylan said as of Thursday night it was “business as usual until we hear different.”
That means spring sports, which started organized practices this week, will be unaffected as of now.
And the Golden Tornado basketball team can resume practices.
Clement said he wasn't sure if his team would scrimmage other teams that are still alive in the postseason.
“I didn't hear (a ruling on that yet),” Clement said. “We have North Catholic and Grove City nearby, but I'm not a big scrimmage person. But in this kind of scenario, I probably would.”
Things are a bit more dire at North Catholic, where the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh has canceled all extracurricular activities indefinitely.
“We're not able to practice as of right now,” said North Catholic girls basketball coach Molly Rottmann.
Rottmann said she and her team will meet face-to-face at some point.
She communicated with her players via text message on Thursday when the news came down that the state tournament was postponed.
North Catholic, which is 26-1 this season and has won the WPIAL Class 4A championship for four consecutive years, has made winning the state title its ultimate goal in 2019-20.With nine seniors, the uncertainty of whether or not the they will get a chance has been difficult already for the Trojanettes.“We were all upset,” said North Catholic senior guard Emma Pospisil. “It's our senior year. If we're lucky, we have three games left. It's tough.“We kind of knew this was coming,” Pospisil added. “We saw Ohio cancel its tournament and the NBA suspending its season. But we were excited about playing Saturday. Hopefull it's just two weeks and we can play again.”It's the uncertainty that is the hardest, Pospisil said, even beyond basketball.“We might not have prom,” Pospisil said. “Are we going to graduate on time? There so many unknowns and that's the worst part.”While the decision to suspend the winter sports seasons was disappointing, Clement and Rottmann understood the reasoning.“People on those boards are there for a reason,” Clement said. “They're there to make good decisions for everyone. This is why they are there. I'm completely the wrong guy to ask about this virus. They are talking to people who know about it and making decisions on that information. It could get worse before it gets better. It's definitely a scare.”Rottmann's son, Hans, is a senior on the North Catholic boys basketball team.That makes for double disappointment in the household.“I totally understand the precaution. I get it,” Molly Rottmann said. “We both have teams and talent to make a run and it's a bummer for sure.”
