The Georgia High School Association pushed back the start of the state basketball tournament a second time Wednesday to give regions two additional days — or until Feb. 19 — to finish their playoffs.
The organization also postponed the state traditional wrestling championships until Feb. 21-22 because of the snow and ice that closed several school systems across the state. The event originally was scheduled for Thursday through Saturday at Gwinnett Arena. The arena has scheduling conflicts and will not be able to host the event next week, leaving the GHSA searching for a new championship site.
The GHSA will meet Friday to set new dates for the state basketball tournament, but it could start as late as Feb. 21, three days later than planned.
GHSA associate director Ernie Yarbrough, who coordinates basketball, said the association was moved to act because of weather reports and word from many regions that they might not start until Saturday and could be forced to play two rounds in one day or even shorten the tournament, eliminating early rounds.
“We just want to ease people’s minds so that they can relax, and even if they can’t get anything done until Friday or even Saturday, they don’t have to double-up games,’’ Yarbrough said. “We want teams to play their region tournaments as originally bracketed.’’
Yarbrough also was concerned that some regions planned to eliminate some early rounds, which regions have a right to do, but at the expense of eliminating teams from a chance to qualify for the state tournament.
“These kids play hard all season long,” Yarbrough said. “And the beauty of the basketball postseason is that even in a 12-team region, even the team that finished 12th would still have a shot.”
If the GHSA decides to start the state tournament Feb. 21, the playoffs would be scheduled each day but a Sunday through the semifinals, with each round lasting two days — Feb. 21-22, first round; Feb. 24-25, second round; Feb. 26-27, third round; and Feb. 28-March 1, semifinals. The semifinals, scheduled for neutral sites, cannot easily be rescheduled because of contracts that the GHSA has with those venues, mostly on college campuses.
But Yarbrough stressed that no decision had been made on that schedule. Yarbrough noted that the first day of the two-day round is for girls games, the second for boys, meaning that teams would get a day of rest between rounds.
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