Start of YAIAA Tournament may be pushed back
The backlash of this week's heavy snow may force the further postponement of the YAIAA boys' and girls' basketball tournaments.
Central York athletic director Marty Trimmer, the YAIAA's basketball chairman, said league officials won't know until tomorrow if the league tournament will begin Saturday as planned or be pushed to next week.
The key determinants will be whether the aftermath of this week's snowfall will allow a pair of rescheduled games slated for Friday to be played: Hanover at Fairfield boys' and Littlestown at Eastern York girls'.
"If we can't get games in tomorrow night, then we'll have to postpone the tournament," Trimmer said.
Eastern (11-10, 7-5 in Division III) can lock up the eighth and final girls' tournament spot with a win over Littlestown (6-13, 4-9).
Here's the catch: If Eastern York loses, Trimmer said officials would be forced to postpone the start of the tournament to fit in Bermudian Springs' matchup with undefeated West York. That game was originally rescheduled for Friday, but has already been postponed.
An Eastern loss coupled with a Bermudian Springs win would see the Eagles snag the final girls' league playoff spot.
Hanover (15-4, 9-4 in Division IV) has already sealed a playoff spot, but can move up or down in seeding depending on how it fares against Fairfield (1-18, 0-11). A win would see the Nighthawks claim a No. 3 seed over Delone Catholic (14-6, 10-4 Division III).
Trimmer said he plans to meet with YAIAA executive director Herb Schmidt and New Oxford principal Mike O'Brien Friday morning to decide on a final course of action.
"I can tell you for sure that I don't know anything for sure," Trimmer said.
Head over to GameTimePA.com later tonight for more...
UPDATE (7:23 p.m.): Just got off the phone with Trimmer, who said the start of the league tournament will be pushed back to next week.
"We're not going to get it started on Saturday, that's for sure," he said.
The reason: Eastern's game with Littlestown has been pushed back to Saturday, leaving Trimmer no choice but to further delay the start of the tournament.