INDIANAPOLIS — In 2020, there was no Indiana high school boys basketball state championship. It was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
This year, there will be a state championship, but it will be a week later than usual.
The 2021 IHSAA Boys Basketball State Finals were scheduled for Saturday, March 27. However, now that the city of Indianapolis is hosting all of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament games, Bankers Life Fieldhouse will be in use for “March Madness” on March 27. So, the IHSAA has decided to just move the boys state finals back a week, to Saturday, April 3.
LISTEN TO THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH IHSAA COMMISSIONER PAUL NEIDIG:
“Our Executive Committee felt it was most important to preserve the experience for our young people of playing for a state championship in Bankers Life Fieldhouse,” Commissioner Paul Neidig said of the decision. “In a year that has seen plenty of disruption, we also felt this arrangement would cause the least amount of disruption and impact the fewest number of schools. The Indiana Pacers and Indiana Fever have been tremendous partners of the IHSAA and we felt it appropriate to work with them to help find a solution.”
This will mark the first time since 1978 that the IHSAA boys basketball season will end in the month of April.
The first three rounds of the boys basketball postseason — Sectional, Regional, and Semi-State — will remain the same.
The high school girls basketball state finals at Bankers Life Fieldhouse is still set for Saturday, February 27.
The IHSAA has not made any formal decision on what attendance restrictions will look like for the state finals.
“There’s just so much information that has to be considered before fans, and at what level, are admitted,” Neidig said. “It would be almost impossible to lay a crystal ball on top of this and tell you what it will look like on April 3.”
As of right now, the IHSAA has only announced attendance restrictions for the start of the girls and boys basketball postseasons. Any school hosting a sectional will have to go by what their local health department advises, based on what their county looks like on Indiana’s color-coded COVID map. If a county is “orange,” attendance is restricted to 25% capacity. If a county is “red,” only parents are allowed to attend.
2021 IHSAA Girls Basketball Postseason Schedule:
Sectional — February 2-6
Regional — February 13
Semi-State — February 20
State — February 27
2021 IHSAA Boys Basketball Postseason Schedule:
Sectional — March 2-6
Regional — March 13
Semi-State — March 20
State — April 3
