The state high school boys basketball championship tournament set to start Thursday in Lincoln is expected to proceed as scheduled. Officials with the Nebraska School Activities Association say there are no immediate plans to cancel or delay the games because of coronavirus concerns. NSAA Executive Director Jay Bellar says fans and players should do what they can to prevent unnecessary contact.
“We’ve talked to our teams and told them we’re not going to think it’s poor sportsmanship if you don’t shake hands. If you want to do the elbow bump or the fist bump instead of the handshake, that’s more than fine,” Bellar said. “We’re telling them too if you have people on your team that don’t feel well, don’t bring them and we’re telling the fans the same thing. If you’re not feeling well, please stay home”
Bellar says if things change, the NSAA would consider playing the games in empty gyms, but has no plans to do that at this point.
“We’ve talked, can we host something with no fans, we’ve talked can we wait two or three weeks and do it at that point in time?” Bellar said. “Playing a championship game without the fans in there, I just don’t know how that would go over, but that’s something we could talk about at this point in time too.”
Teams from across the state are set to play in Pinnacle Bank Arena, the Devaney Center and Lincoln Southeast and Lincoln East high schools.