Red Bank boys' basketball coach John Cherne wasn't looking just at Monday's postponement with Howard but even beyond Christmas and into January.
"I'm from Missouri so I always look at the Farmer's Almanac, and it says we're looking at a couple of ice storms in January," the Lions coach said Monday.
With that in mind, Cherne was hoping the District 6-AA doubleheader at Howard could be played Wednesday. Hustlin' Tigers coach Walt McGary was in the process of getting that approved by his administration and Rick Smith, deputy superintendent for Hamilton County Schools.
County students are taking semester exams this week. Red Bank principal Gail Chuy and other school administrators discourage athletic events during that period, so Cherne got Monday's date approved to start with and then went back to Chuy to get the proposed change OK'd.
"It wasn't so tough when we were in the triple-A district," Cherne said. "There were five teams, so that was eight league games. Even then, though, I remember when we played Ooltewah on a Thursday late in the season and then turned around and played them on Friday just to get the games in.
"Now that we're in a double-A district with eight teams, Tuesdays and Fridays are at a premium."
Some area schools did have practice Monday afternoon, including Bradley Central, which is scheduled to play rival Cleveland tonight.
"It's a matter of common sense. The roads up here are in pretty good shape and I let my daughter go out, so I feel like others will be OK," Bradley coach Kent Smith said. "If school had been dismissed early, the administration would likely have canceled all practices or games. On days like today it's more that you use your own discretion."
Cherne likened the situation to practice for AAU teams.
"The kids are loving it. You practice once or twice a week and then play a lot of games," he said. "We missed two practices in a way last week, and we played three games [Friday, Saturday and Sunday]," he said. "This week we'll play on Friday and Saturday, have a walk-through on Sunday and then play in the [Times Free Press] tournament next week."
Practice is more important for wrestling teams, as many of the competitors need the workouts to stay on weight.
"We didn't have an official practice today, but I had the wrestling room open at the junior high," Walker Valley coach Allan Morris said. "Some of the guys said they'd be there, and some said they wouldn't. With the weight restrictions and the [weight] descent plans, you don't know what kind of lineup you'll be able to put together."
His Mustangs are scheduled to wrestle at Ooltewah tonight.
"It's more critical for wrestlers to be able to get in their workout because of the weigh-ins and all the other checks and balances [regarding weight loss]," Morris said. "Regardless, we'll be there with whatever we can do."
Hixson, which has a meet tonight at Bradley Central, was unable to practice Monday.
"In a [weather] situation like this everybody gets a one-pound allowance, but since we can't work out I'm getting ready to call all my guys and tell them to run on their own," Hixson coach Garrick Hall said.
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765.