The Day Sports Stopped

Imagine being told to pack up your stuff, get on a bus, and go home during the middle of a basketball tournament. While a month ago, this may have seemed like something out of a fantasy world, it’s very much the reality of what happened. Eight teams in Spearfish, all of who earned the right to compete for a state title, were given the news that for the time being, that dream was being put on hold.

But before we can get to the ‘why’ of the equation, it’s important to first look at when this all started in South Dakota.

Tuesday March 10, 2020

In the mid-afternoon, the University of South Dakota women’s basketball team defeated South Dakota State University to win the Summit League tournament championship, earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament. Shortly afterwards, Governor Kristi Noem held a press conference to announce the first four confirmed cases of COVID-19 in South Dakota.

That night, fans throughout the state gathered at various gymnasiums/arenas throughout the state for SoDak 16 boys high school basketball games.

“On that Tuesday night, I was at the Sanford Pentagon for a doubleheader, which was full of people, and to be honest with you, I didn’t think twice about that at the time,” said Mike Henriksen of SportsMax Radio and Calling All Sports.

Wednesday March 11, 2020

All eight teams for the ‘B’ girls state high school basketball tournament made their way to Spearfish, where each squad had a scheduled practice at Black Hills State University.

Late in the day, Utah Jazz Center Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19, and the NBA suspended their season.

“I didn’t really know anything. I was trying to think if I even remembered hearing about the coronavirus prior to taking off and going [to Spearfish],” explained Corsica-Stickney head girls’ basketball coach Lorisa Broughton. “I think we got something from the [SDHSAA] stating keeping our hands clean and some of the stuff with the equipment and they were going to take care of stuff. I’m like “oh, okay.” We talked to the girls about it and talked on the bus and that was it.”

Thursday March 12, 2020

The quarterfinal round of the ‘B’ girls state basketball tournament began from BHSU.

“At the time we started the [Center for Disease Control] guidance was limiting gatherings to one to 3,000 people, so we decided to proceed with our tournament,” said South Dakota High School Activities Executive Director Dan Swartos.

“There was really a sense of uneasiness at the gym on Thursday,” said Mike Henriksen. “The officials were questioning whether we should be there. They were wondering how far the tournament would get. A lot of people were oblivious also.”

After the first quarterfinal game between Corsica-Stickney and Irene-Wakonda, the South Dakota High School Activities Association announced that they would be limiting the fan sizes for the remainder of the state tournament to 125 per team.

“We tipped off at noon Mountain Time, our first game, and about ten minutes into that game the CDC guidance started changing and it started shifting down to that 250 number,” said Dan Swartos. “So in between the first session and second we switched to a limited ticket model.”

Four of the eight teams, Ethan, Castlewood, De Smet, and Faulkton Area, would be forced to limit their fan sizes before their team even played one game in the tournament.

“It was really difficult to absorb right away,” said De Smet girls basketball coach Doug Osthus. “Obviously word got out to my players right away. They were obviously upset, and we made the decision to leave the second [quarterfinal game] to go back to the hotel to sit down and discuss things. How we did it was to say look, “everybody’s parents, immediate family, and grandparents.” We started with our seniors and went down the line.”

While South Dakota dealt with limiting fan sizes, other sports leagues in the nation were also making moves.

The University of South Dakota women's basketball team learned their fate Thursday afternoon. Senior Coyote Ciara Duffy found out that the NCAA was canceling both their men's and women's tournaments by watching TV.

"I was watching ESPN the entire day on Thursday (March 12), because we had found out the night before that the NBA season was postponed indefinitely, so almost essentially canceled. And all of these other big events were starting to cancel,” explained Duffy. “I think we all knew something was coming. Maybe we had our fingers crossed that hopefully it could be postponed, but also recognizing the logistics of postponing an event that big on the men’s and women’s side. I was just watching ESPN all day and saw the news come out live on there.”

Friday March 13, 2020

Teams arrived at Black Hills State University for their morning shootarounds before the consolation and semifinal rounds. At 10:47 am MT, the SDHSAA sent out a press releasing announcing the postponement of the ‘B’ girls state basketball tournament and all five tournaments for the following weekend as well.

“It was about 10 am MT when we found out Minnesota had canceled their state tournament, both the boys and the girls,” said Craig Mattick of KWSN Sports in Sioux Falls. “At that point in time I thought something is going to happen.”

“We touched base with [Governor Noem’s Office] again on Friday morning, and at that time, things had changed again,” said Dan Swartos. “It was their recommendation and their request at that time that we postpone the tournament.”

“It surprised me a little at first when they postponed it, I thought they would cancel it,” said Craig Mattick. “Minnesota had canceled, but North Dakota and Nebraska were still playing then.”

From there, everyone went home. In what was usually the most exciting day of a state tournament, the semifinal session, everything was turned upside down. Instead of day two of basketball, all of the teams, fans, and officials were asked to pack up their things and go home until further notice.

It would continue to snowball from there as school buildings were then closed, first for one week, then two, and then for longer.

Tuesday March 24, 2020

Governor Kristi Noem urged all South Dakota school buildings to remain closed through Friday May 1st, which also led to the South Dakota High School Activities Association to extend their postponements.

Friday March 27, 2020

The South Dakota High School Activities Association held a board of directors meeting to discuss the status of their sports and activities for both winter and spring. The big points of emphasis with this meeting was to make no decision at the present time and to keep the window of opportunity open. Numerous plans were discussed on a revamped schedule, which included post-season only events for spring sports and the potential for all six state basketball tournaments to take place in June.

All of this was dependent on one thing though, if the kids could return to school on Monday May 4th.

Monday April 6, 2020

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem urged all of the K-12 school buildings in South Dakota to remain closed through the remainder of the 2019-20 school year. This decision forced the High School Activities Association in the state to make the difficult decision of canceling all of its remaining high school events as well.

“It’s tough for everyone involved,” said Dan Swartos. “It’s difficult, but those kids learned a lot of lessons throughout their high school career and through high school activities. And those lessons and friendships they’ve made will stick with them forever.”

It's now been nearly a month since everything came to a screeching halt. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t personally disappointed. But my disappointment doesn’t even come close to the high school student-athletes in the state, who worked their tail off all year to achieve a goal that no longer exists. And for the seniors, many of whose athletic careers are now over. Not to mention, no graduation parties or coronation ceremonies – what a time to graduate…

“Sometimes in our life we work really, really hard for something and we don't get the opportunity to make it there, to reach that pinnacle, and this may be the case,” said Corsica-Stickney’s Lorisa Broughton. “It's probably a time of introspect. They have to look at themselves and know, you know what? We know we did a good thing, we know we had a great year. So it's not all lost and hopefully it makes them be aware of a bigger picture.”

The High School Activities Association announced they won’t be giving out placement awards for basketball this season, but they do hope to find some way of honoring the kids whose teams all qualified for the state tournament.