More than 40 high school athletic events scheduled for Friday involving area teams — boys’ and girls’ basketball and wrestling — were either postponed or canceled because of the weekend’s inclement weather. There were nearly as many games affected Saturday as well.
All district basketball games must be made up before the postseason begins, but with just two weeks remaining before the start of district tournaments, nonleague matchups may have to fall by the wayside. Those could include Brainerd’s basketball games that were scheduled Saturday against Austin-East from Knoxville.
Also among Saturday’s scheduled events postponed for weather-related reasons was the semifinal and final rounds of the Tennessee prep bowling tournament. Once the weather turned inclement Friday, TSSAA officials moved Saturday’s start time back two hours to noon EST to allow out-of-town travelers more time to arrive safely. However, the tournament was postponed indefinitely after a large section of the roof at the Smyrna Bowling Center collapsed just after midnight from the weight of the snow and ice.
Multiple lanes were damaged, the facility also suffered water damage and it was without power Saturday. According to TSSAA assistant director Matthew Gillespie, the damage to the facility was so extreme that no one was permitted to enter the bowling center.
“I got a call at 2:45 a.m. from the tournament director at the bowling center, telling me what had happened there,” Gillespie said. “We had already made new plans because of the weather, but you can’t expect anything like that to happen. To have a roof cave in and lose a whole facility is not something you expect.
“Our timetable now is we will sit down Monday morning to look at all options and find a date that works and whether we will need to move it from the Smyrna Bowling Center, or if that site will be ready by the new date.”