The South Dakota high school Class B state girls tournament continues in Spearfish, but a decision by the City of Sioux Falls as part of its “state of emergency” on Thursday leaves the playing of next week’s Class AA boys and girls tourneys in jeopardy.
Following suit of Nebraska and Minnesota’s state basketball events currently taking place, the South Dakota High School Activities Association has banned the general public from the rest of the Class B girls tourney.
Each team will receive an allotment of 125 tickets to dispense, and those 250 spectators will be the only ones in attendance beyond the teams and other “essential staff” for the event. Those fans will be required to clear out the facility at Black Hills State University before the next games’ fans file in.
The City of Sioux Falls has used the number 250 as the limit for holding any city-sanctioned event or event in or on city facilities until March 27.
This means that is AA boys and girls tourneys, scheduled to take shape in the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center and Sioux Falls Arena from March 19-21, would have to follow the same policy of limiting crowd size.
Mayor Paul Tenhanken said he has had discussions with SDHSAA executive Dan Swartos about potentially moving the tourney to another city.
Still staging the tourneys would go against the grain of postponements for all events sanctioned by the major professional sports leages like the NBA, NHL, and MLB, which have all suspended their seasons — the MLB for at least two weeks from the original opening day of March 26.
The NCAA Tournament and all NCAA winter and spring activities have been cancelled — including the NCAA Div. II national wrestling tournament in Sioux Falls. The NAIA men’s national tournament in the Sanford Pentagon is also cancelled.
Swartos told KWSN on Wednesday he had received no complaints or concerns about going on with the “B” girls event despite more cases of coronavirus outbreak. On Thursday, he reaffirmed the SDHSAA is making decisions based on recommendations from the South Dakota Department of Health, the governor’s office, and the CDC.
