Coronavirus: MA Cancels State Basketball, Hockey Championships

WORCESTER, MA — The high school sports season in Massachusetts will end with state co-champions in each division of basketball and hockey after the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association decided Thursday night to cancel all state finals scheduled for this weekend amid the coronavirus pandemic. The final two games were played in front of no fans Thursday night at Worcester State University to determine the Division 4 girls and Division 3 boys co-champions.

"We understand this is disappointing news however, this decision was made in the best interests of all our student athletes, schools and communities," the MIAA said in a statement. "Schools who would have been participating in the state finals will be considered co-champions."

The MIAA had attempted to finish out the season with hockey games at TD Garden on Sunday and basketball games at Worcester State on Friday. But with a torrent of professional leagues and college tournaments being canceled or put on hiatus in recent days, the MIAA opted to call it a season after Thursday night's girls game between Maynard and Monson, and the boys game between Sabis and Sutton.

Thursday's girls game was played in within a near-empty gym with only coaches, players, essential game personnel and media allowed to attend. The game was originally scheduled for Wednesday, was briefly moved to Thursday at AIC to accommodate fans, then moved back to Worcester State under the no-fan restriction on Wednesday night.

"All the colleges and universities that we worked with were great between AIC and Worcester State for us to be able to have something scheduled," MIAA Associated Director Peter Smith said. "Then have certain larger decisions come into play, and get made, and we certainly understand and respect that. We're just so happy to be able to be here so the four teams can play."

The beginning of spring sports practices, which were to start on Monday, has also been pushed back to at least March 30.

As the Rhode Island Interscholastic League pushed forward to finish out its indoor high school sports seasons amid the coronavirus pandemic it announced on Thursday that only players, coaches and essential personnel will be allowed at tournament games at the University of Rhode Island and Rhode Island College. No spectators will be allowed at those games.

The Ivy League, Patriot League and New England Small College Athletic Conference all announced the cancellation of the entire spring college season for all athletic teams. Many sports such as lacrosse were already well into their respective seasons.

The NBA announced Wednesday night it was suspending its season after two players on the Utah Jazz tested positive for coronavirus, the NHL and MLS announced similar measures on Thursday, and it was announced Thursday night that the NCAA "March Madness" men's and women's basketball tournaments will also be canceled.

(More on the coronavirus can be found in this fact sheet from the CDC.)

Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that include the common cold as well as much more serious diseases. The strain that emerged in China in late 2019, now called COVID-19, is related to other that have caused serious outbreaks in recent years, including severe acute respiratory syndromes (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the U.S. was on Jan. 21.

The disease, which apparently originated in animals, is now transferring from person to person, although the mechanism is not yet fully understood. Its symptoms include fever, coughing and shortness of breath, and many patients develop pneumonia. There is as yet no vaccine against COVID-19 it and no antiviral treatment.

According to the CDC, the best way of preventing the disease is to avoid close contact with people who are sick, to avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands, to wash you hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, and to use a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol if soap and water are not available. To avoid spreading any
respiratory illness, the CDC recommends staying at home when you are sick, covering your cough or sneeze with a tissue and throwing the tissue in the trash, cleaning and disinfecting frequently touched objects and surfaces.

(Don't miss updates about precautions in Patchtown as they are announced. Sign up for Patch news alerts and newsletters.)

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