By TYLER HENRY
Salina Post contributor
The 2020-21 high school basketball season is underway, and with it, many cancellations, postponements and newly scheduled games have been added and removed from calendars due to Covid-19.
With the chaotic season in full swing, we thought it would be helpful to give you an update on the current situation for each of our area schools heading into the final week of the 2020 portion of the season.
All of this information is accurate as of Tuesday, December 15th and we will do our best to update this article if anything changes between now and Friday.
Salina Central
Of the teams we were able to check in on, the Mustangs are the only ones with no changes to their schedule in the final week of December play. The boys and girls teams are both active and will face Ark City tonight and Andover Central on Thursday.
Salina South
The Cougars boys and girls teams are also both active heading into this week. Both will face off against Maize South tonight, but Thursday’s boys game against Hutch has been cancelled. The girls game has been moved to 7:30 following the JV game at South High.
Abilene
The Cowboys are still on for their game against Southeast of Saline tonight, however, the Cowgirls game against the Lady Trojans has been cancelled. Abilene is expecting both teams to be active by Friday to travel to Concordia before the break.
Chapman
Due to the recommendation of the county health officer, Fighting Irish athletics will remain on pause until at least January 7th of the new year.
Southeast of Saline
As mentioned above, the Trojan boys team will still face Abilene tonight at 7:30, while the girls game has been cancelled. Both teams are active and will travel to Hillsboro on Thursday, and in a new addition to the schedule, the Lady Trojans will host Rossville on Friday.
Ell-Saline
Due to Covid-19 concerns, it was announced today that Ell-Saline would be suspending it’s basketball programs until at least the new year. Games for both the boys and girls teams against Ellinwood, Douglass and Kingman have all been postponed as a result.
Bennington
After a covid-related hiatus, the Lady Bulldogs were able to return ahead of schedule on December 9th, and begin their season with two wins. However on Sunday, they were notified of a positive test from one of their opponents and have returned to quarantine until after the state moratorium. Due to covid-issues at Lakeside, the boys team will not play tonight, but should still be able to get their game at Douglass on Friday in before the break.
We have not heard from Sacred Heart or Solomon as of 4:00 CT on Tuesday. The Knights and Lady Knights are scheduled to play Minneapolis on Friday, while Solomon’s boys and girls teams are scheduled to play Stafford today and Canton-Galva on Friday. We will update this article if we hear any changes to those schedules.
After this week, the state moratorium will take effect and all winter athletic activities will be on break until January 4th of the new year.