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In an ever-changing state basketball tournament, the California Interscholastic Federation has moved Thursday night’s Northern California Open Division boys championship game between Bishop O’Dowd and Sheldon from Laney College in Oakland to Cosumnes River College in Sacramento.
Laney College is closed because of coronavirus concerns.
The winner will advance to the Open Division state final Saturday night at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento against Southern California champion Sierra Canyon.
In its release about the NorCal site change, the CIF noted that there will be attendance limitations but did not specify a number.
The release stated that no tickets will be sold at the door or by any other means and that each school has been allotted an equal number of tickets.
CIF State Courtesy Passes, CIF Gold Life Passes and Section issued media credentials will not be accepted, the release stated, noting that media planning to cover the game would have to go through the CIF because of the attendance limitations.
The game will be streamed live by NFHS Network.
The CIF has been maneuvering for more than a week as concern about the virus and the threat of it spreading rapidly has caused city and county officials to impose bans on large gatherings, colleges to stop in-person classes and sports leaders to make unprecedented decisions — the latest being no fans attending this year’s NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments.
The decision to limit the crowd count at Cosumnes River College on Thursday is the first indication that the CIF might be following the lead of other sports officials.
The state playoffs conclude this weekend at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, with six state championship games scheduled to be played Friday and six more Saturday.
Fans presumably will travel from all corners of the state to attend these games.
In the news release Thursday, the CIF wrote about coronavirus, “We continue to work with our medical expert and rely upon information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”), the California Department of Public Health (“DPH”) and local counties of departments of public health regarding the impact of and recommended safeguards related to the Coronavirus (COVID-19).”
The girls NorCal Open final also had a last-minute schedule change, moving from Gunn High in Palo Alto to Miramonte High in Orinda because of coronavirus concerns.
Archbishop Mitty beat St. Joseph Notre Dame on Tuesday to advance to the state final Saturday against La Jolla County Day.
At schools in Contra Costa County on Wednesday, spring sports athletic contests were played without spectators as schools adhered to the county’s crowd gathering restrictions.
Monte Vista High in Danville tweeted that there would be no fans at its athletic contests until March 21 because of an edict from Contra Costa Department of Public Health and San Ramon Valley Unified School District.
Heritage High in Brentwood had a similar tweet, writing that all athletic contests will be limited to “essential team personnel only” through March 27.
“No spectators, parents or fans will be allowed to attend after school athletic events,” the school added. “We appreciate you in assisting us by keeping our student-athletes and community safe.”
