The Georgia High School Association would consider backing up the state basketball tournament another day if necessary to accommodate region playoffs that are scrambling to finish by Monday’s deadline amid a snow and ice storm, but associate director Ernie Yarbrough remained confident Wednesday morning that further delays won’t be necessary.
The state tournament is scheduled to begin Wednesday, Feb. 19. That is already a day later than originally played because of snow and ice that has interrupted several region tournaments around the state.
Yarbrough said it was more likely that he would allow the region tournament to finish on Tuesday than to back up the state tournament again.
‘’If we have to adjust again, we’ll adjust,’’ said Yarbrough, the GHSA’s basketball coordinator. ‘’We’re not going to put anybody in an unfavorable predicament. Obviously the safety of both the participants and spectators is the primary concern, and if we have to move (the region tournament deadline) to Tuesday, we will.’'
If region tournaments were still going Tuesday, the state tournament still likely would begin the next day, Yarbrough said. That would make it harder on girls teams, which could be forced to play on consecutive days. The girls’ first round is Wednesday, and the boys’ first round is Thursday.
The dates of the first three rounds of the state playoffs can be moved back a little because they are played at the home gym of the higher-seeded team. The semifinals, slated for Feb. 25-26, can’t be changed because they are played a neutral sites, typically colleges and universities.
‘The first three rounds are certainly not written in stone,’’ Yabrough said. “There is wiggle room there.''
Most region basketball tournaments in metro Atlanta are schedule to resume on Friday and finish on Monday. If Friday is lost, many regions plan to play two rounds on Saturday. The GHSA allows that in the post season as long as teams are given a minimum of four hours of rest between games.
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