Winter blast blows basketball games back
Published 10:32 am Wednesday, February 18, 2015
The first major snowfall of 2015 in Suffolk has re-arranged the postseason for city schools, both public and private.
The Ironclad Conference girls’ basketball tournament was set to begin on Tuesday at King’s Fork High School, but it has now been pushed back to Thursday. The semifinals are set for Saturday and the final for Monday.
The conference boys’ basketball tourney, originally set to resume with semifinal games on Wednesday at King’s Fork, will now resume on Friday, with the final set for Monday.
King’s Fork activities director Randy Jessee agreed this is one of the more stressful times for someone in his position.
He said the conference has a deadline set by the Virginia High School League by which it must have completed the conference tournament, in order to leave the appropriate amount of time for the impending regional tournament.
The deadline is Saturday, but the snow has made meeting that deadline unfeasible for Suffolk’s public schools, along with Denbigh, Heritage and Phoebus high schools, the other members of the Ironclad Conference.
Jessee worked with regional directors and the VHSL to bypass the deadline.
The delay should not interfere with the regional tournament, which is not set to begin until Feb. 26 at the earliest.
Nansemond-Suffolk Academy’s girls’ and boys’ basketball teams were set to begin play in their respective Tidewater Conference of Independent Schools tournaments on Tuesday, but those games have now been pushed to Thursday.
The boys’ and girls’ semifinals will be held on Friday at Hampton Roads Academy and the finals will follow on Saturday, also at HRA.
The Region 4A South indoor track and field championships have been rescheduled for Monday. They will run from 9:30 a.m. until conclusion at the Boo Williams Sportsplex in Hampton.
Following is the updated scheduling for this week:
Thursday
Tidewater Conference of Independent Schools tournaments
Quarterfinals
6 p.m. Girls – No. 7 Norfolk Collegiate at No. 2 NSA
7 p.m. Boys – No. 8 NSA at No. 1 Cape Henry
Ironclad Conference girls’ basketball tournament at KFHS
First round
6 p.m. – No. 5 Lakeland vs. No. 4 Heritage
7:30 p.m. – No. 6 Denbigh vs. No. 3 Nansemond River
Friday
Ironclad Conference boys’ basketball tournament at KFHS
Semifinals
6 p.m. – No. 3 Phoebus vs. No. 2 King’s Fork
7:30 p.m. – No. 4 Lakeland vs. No. 1 Heritage