WPIAL adopts ‘open tournament’
By JEREMY SELLEW
jsellew@yourmvi.com
Once the majority of high school basketball teams hit the hardwood for section play each season, teams pay attention to the standings more and more as the end of the season nears.
Who will finish where? Who is playing who? It’s time for “bracketology.”
Well not this season.
Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic and athletic departments scrambling to either schedule, reschedule, add, cancel or change the date of games, the WPIAL has made the playoffs a little easier to reach.
Simply put, if you want to be in, you’re in.
The 2021 WPIAL basketball playoffs will be an open tournament. All teams willing to participate can. The WPIAL board voted on the measure during a meeting Monday.
The WPIAL board met to finalize many winter sports decisions for the regular season and postseason. Interscholastic sports are in the midst of a three-week “pause” ordered by Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration.
The shutdown ends Jan. 4 if not extended.
Scheuneman said the WPIAL remains hopeful teams will resume their seasons then. At the very least, she’d like to see teams be able to restart workouts.
“We definitely want kids to get back in the gyms and pools and everything else for the health and well-being of them,” Scheuneman said. “Whether we play games or not, it’s important for them to stay active and involved.”
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