On March 12, the PIAA announced that they are pushing back the state basketball tournament for two weeks because of the Coronavirus. The decision was made by the PIAA board of directors. The question in the air is whether or not they will actually finish the season.

The decision came the day after the NBA decided to cancel the rest of their season due to players getting the virus. The NCAA at first was only going to limit the fans that were allowed to attend the tournament, but a few days later they decided to cancel the entire tournament. The NCAA also decided to cancel the spring sports season this year.

Even if the PIAA decides to continue in two weeks, there will be precautions taken. For example, there would be a limit of fans at the game, health recertifications by authorized medical professionals, and changes to the game-day procedures.  Games will only be allowed to play in front of a maximum of 250 people. No ticket sales would be on sale to the public. Each school will have to certify to the PIAA that they have been seen by a medical professional to ensure that they do not have the flu or any other health condition.

There are currently 20 WPIAL teams participating in the state tournament. These 20 teams do not know what’s going to happen in the upcoming weeks. If all goes as planned, the state tournament will continue on March 27.

The Lady Hawks were supposed to play Plymouth-Whitemarsh on March 13 at Bald Eagle High School in the quarterfinals.  The girls were looking to make a big run and win the school’s first-ever girls state championship. That run is put on hold for the moment.

Senior Lauren Mullen said: “I don’t want to end my high school basketball career on this note. I’ve been playing with these girls for the longest time, and we were looking to do something special. If we don’t have a chance to I’ll be devastated.”

The PIAA board is planning to meet again this weekend, so the fate of the Lady Hawks is unknown for now.