Dates Announced for Boys' and Girls' Sweet Sixteen®

[theguru]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 19, 2021

The dates for the 2021 Boys’ and Girls’ Sweet Sixteen® State Basketball Tournaments have been set, with the boys’ tournament taking place March 31 through April 3, followed by the Mingua Beef Jerky Girls’ Sweet 16® on April 7-10. Each tournament will be played over four days at Rupp Arena, with the semifinals and championship played on the final day, as a one-year accommodation due to the events being scheduled around Easter Sunday. The four-day format was standard for the state basketball tournament for several years prior to the 2013 Boys’ Sweet 16® when (the powers that be) recommended separating the prior semifinal/championship Saturday schedule into two days.

At this time, attendance for both tournaments will be restricted to 15% of capacity within the areas of the arena in-use. Details will be announced in February regarding the ticketing process, but all-session tickets will be limited for 2021 in order to properly maintain social distancing and allow for the fans of competing teams to have an opportunity to attend. All prior ticket holders will retain their ticket records and priority, and have the ability to renew into the same seats from 2020 in future years.

“We know that there are many who would like to see things resume full-speed ahead immediately, but that is neither responsible nor practical right now. This is the same situation our University partners and friends have found themselves in this season, so it isn’t all that unexpected,” said KHSAA Commissioner Julian Tackett. “Ever since the 2020 events were shut down and ultimately canceled, we have all hoped for the 2021 tournaments to be a renewal and rebirth. Unfortunately, that timeline isn’t feasible right now. We will work with our partners at Rupp Arena, the City of Lexington, and various health entities to maximize the opportunities for this year’s event and ensure an optimal experience for the participating teams and members of their community.”

https://khsaa.org/01-19-21-dates-announced-for-boys-and-girls-sweet-sixteen/

[DragonFire]

40 minutes ago, theguru said:

The four-day format was standard for the state basketball tournament for several years prior to the 2013 Boys’ Sweet 16®

Several years? Sure, if by several years they mean since basically always. Even if just for one year I’m a fan of the return to that. 

[theguru]

2 minutes ago, DragonFire said:

Several years? Sure, if by several years they mean since basically always. Even if just for one year I’m a fan of the return to that. 

I am just the messenger DF! 🙂

[4 Quarters]

On 1/19/2021 at 9:17 PM, DragonFire said:

Several years? Sure, if by several years they mean since basically always. Even if just for one year I’m a fan of the return to that. 

I'm with you.

[The Oracle]

Easter is April 4. Boys tourney is March 31 thru April 3, so Holy Week. If a Catholic school were to make it to the Sweet 16 I'd be shocked if they were allowed by their district to play on Good Friday, if any of those days.

[TheDeuce]

9 minutes ago, The Oracle said:

Easter is April 4. Boys tourney is March 31 thru April 3, so Holy Week. If a Catholic school were to make it to the Sweet 16 I'd be shocked if they were allowed by their district to play on Good Friday, if any of those days.

No chance a district keeps their team out of the Sweet 16. 

[The Oracle]

14 minutes ago, TheDeuce said:

No chance a district keeps their team out of the Sweet 16. 

Clearly you don't know much about the bishop of the Diocese of Covington then.

[TheDeuce]

19 minutes ago, The Oracle said:

Clearly you don't know much about the bishop of the Diocese of Covington then.

You think CovCath doesn't play if they are in the Sweet 16?

[gchs_uk9]

1 hour ago, The Oracle said:

Easter is April 4. Boys tourney is March 31 thru April 3, so Holy Week. If a Catholic school were to make it to the Sweet 16 I'd be shocked if they were allowed by their district to play on Good Friday, if any of those days.

The KHSAA had to play when they could play. Moving the dates back meant they were now working on Rupp Arena's schedule. I'm sure semifinals and finals on Saturday are to avoid Easter but avoiding Good Friday is probably not possible. Theoretically, it could affect five other parochial schools (Owensboro Catholic in Region 3, winners of Region 6 and 7, Lexington Catholic in Region 11) but that isn't too likely.

[The Oracle]

1 hour ago, TheDeuce said:

You think CovCath doesn't play if they are in the Sweet 16?

Knowing Bishop Foys, that is what I'm saying.

Doubt all you want. You haven't ever spoken to him.

[TheDeuce]

10 minutes ago, The Oracle said:

Knowing Bishop Foys, that is what I'm saying.

Doubt all you want. You haven't ever spoken to him.

You're entitled to your opinion. 

I would be shocked if any district kept a team out of the State Tournament for that reason.

[Colonels_Wear_Blue]

Well if there's one thing that I learned from the bedroom walls of my childhood friends, it's that Jesus only played baseball and soccer. So I don't know about basketball getting a pass here...

 

[Colonels_Wear_Blue]

In all seriousness, I will say that I'm intrigued by the question about Catholic schools. Well, I guess I should probably say that I'm intrigued about the Diocese of Covington schools, in particular. It was Bishop Foys who put the current rule in place that established the moratorium on school sports during Holy Week. No practice, and no games. I remember hearing him say that he was "appalled" when he learned that his predecessors had permitted school sports during Holy Week.

As far as I know, the rule has been pretty strictly enforced. Now granted, to the best of my knowledge there has also never been a state tournament or state championship that has fallen during Holy Week in the time that Foys has been Bishop, either. I'm really curious to find out how this sits with him.

No idea from me what will happen with the Catholic schools from the Diocese of Lexington, or the Archdiocese of Louisville.

[The Oracle]

55 minutes ago, Colonels_Wear_Blue said:

In all seriousness, I will say that I'm intrigued by the question about Catholic schools. Well, I guess I should probably say that I'm intrigued about the Diocese of Covington schools, in particular. It was Bishop Foys who put the current rule in place that established the moratorium on school sports during Holy Week. No practice, and no games. I remember hearing him say that he was "appalled" when he learned that his predecessors had permitted school sports during Holy Week.

As far as I know, the rule has been pretty strictly enforced. Now granted, to the best of my knowledge there has also never been a state tournament or state championship that has fallen during Holy Week in the time that Foys has been Bishop, either. I'm really curious to find out how this sits with him.

No idea from me what will happen with the Catholic schools from the Diocese of Lexington, or the Archdiocese of Louisville.

Swimming and wrestling would be the only other two that would ever possibly have state tourneys around then. I don't think they have.

[Colonels_Wear_Blue]

3 minutes ago, The Oracle said:

Swimming and wrestling would be the only other two that would ever possibly have state tourneys around then. I don't think they have.

I'm admittedly out of the loop with high school wrestling. I think swimming & diving usually has their state meet a little earlier, but I could be wrong. I don't think they have an exact date established for the meet right now.