As the spread of the coronavirus has continued to disrupt nearly every facet of American life over the last week, it should come as no surprise that the Section I spring athletics season is no exception. With public schools in the area closed indefinitely, Section I Executive Director Todd Santabarbara released a statement on March 16 announcing that all interscholastic athletic programs are to halt all practices, scrimmages and games until the impact of COVID-19 can be reassessed on March 30.
But while the pandemic is threatening to put an end to the spring season before it begins, it also forced several local winter teams to give up on their quest for state titles last week.
One such squad was the Class A Section I boys basketball champion Rye Garnets, whose season came to an abrupt end on March 12 when the New York State Public High School Athletics Association, NYSPHSAA, decided to postpone all winter season championships indefinitely. At the time of the cancelation, the Garnets were preparing for a March 13 regional final showdown against Section IV champ Johnson City at SUNY Purchase. Prior to the cancelation, the NYSPHSAA toyed with other ideas to contain the spread of the virus, such as barring all spectators from the venue.
“We knew that cancelation was a possibility, but up until the moment we found out, we heard the game was still going to be on,” Rye head coach John Aguilar said. “We drove up to Binghamton on Wednesday to watch Johnson City play New Paltz, wrote up the whole scouting report and were ready to get to work on Thursday when we found out. The kids were devastated.”
Although Aguilar acknowledged that cancelation of the tournament was ultimately the right call, he admitted that it was a difficult decision to process in the moment.
“I think at that time we felt very conflicted about it because schools and businesses hadn’t been shut down yet, they had played the regional semifinals on Wednesday, and this was going just to be five-on-five in a gym with no spectators,” he said. “But once everything got shut down, I think it shows that they made the right decision in trying to contain this.”
But even understanding the decision did little to quell Aguilar’s disappointment as he watched the high school careers of his seniors—a group that was responsible for capturing Rye’s first Section I title in 31 years—come to an end.
“Johnson City is a tough team and they certainly could have beaten us, but it’s one thing for a season to end that way, as opposed to the way it did,” he said. “Even though they finished the season with a win, there’s no closure, and I think they deserved that.”
