UD Arena to allow fans for A-10 championship, OHSAA girls, boys state basketball tournament

DAYTON — As many as 1,341 fans will be allowed to attend this season’s remaining tournament games at the University of Dayton Arena next month, Public Health -Dayton & Montgomery County said Tuesday.

This includes the Atlantic 10′s championship game on March 14th and OHSAA state basketball tournaments later in the month.

The Ohio High School Athletic Association will host the girls state tournaments from March 11 to March 13 and the boys state tournaments will follow from March 19 to March 21.

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“We are so excited that the University of Dayton has such a strong desire to host our basketball state tournaments and for all they did to receive a variance to allow more fans to attend,” said Doug Ute, OHSAA Executive Director.

While the approved variance for a maximum capacity of 1,341 was approved by the county health department, the OHSAA said it will announce a specific number of fans permitted per game at a later date.

UD Arena has already been scheduled to hold the girls tournaments this year and in 2022 and 2023, but OHSAA said the pandemic put the location of the tournament games in question due to spectator limits and costs associated with the events.

“We especially thank Scott DeBolt and the staff at UD Arena for working with us on the financial side to allow the state tournaments to happen there this year,” Ute said. “We all can’t wait for the future when we can get back to normal attendance and pack the arena for the state tournaments.”

Previously, this year’s boys tournament was scheduled for St. John Arena at The Ohio State University, but the facility was not available due to the pandemic.

Cox Media Group