Due to COVID, Change Should be the Norm for the South Jersey High School Boys’ Basketball Season

by Marc Narducci | Feb 5, 2021

Nobody said that it would be easy to complete or even in some cases start a high school basketball season and several boys’ programs in South Jersey have had COVID-related setbacks.

That said, the season began and that has been a positive development for many programs in South Jersey.

Yet this will be a season where the unsung heroes will be the athletic directors, who may be forced to switch things at the drop of a hat.

One such person who has already been extremely busy when it comes to boys’ basketball scheduling is Haddonfield athletic director Lefty Banos.

Haddonfield will be looking to make up for lost time, but nevertheless still attempt to compete.

Before the season tipped off on Jan. 26, Banos announced that COVID has causes several postponements.

The Haddonfield boys' varsity & JV basketball games at Haddon Twp. HS on 01/28/2021 have been postponed to Feb. 6, JV 12:00 PM, Varsity 1:30 PM, still at HTWP

The Haddonfield boys' varsity and JV basketball game with Haddon Township on Jan. 26 were postponed to Feb. 20 with JV at 11:30 and varsity at 1.

The Haddonfield boys' varsity and JV basketball games vs. Collingswood High School on 01/30/2021 have been postponed to 2/13, JV 11:30 AM, Varsity 1:00 PM, still at Haddonfield.

The Haddonfield boys' varsity & JV basketball games at Collingswood High School on 02/02/2021 rescheduled to March 2 at Collingswood, JV at 4 and varsity at 5:30.

The Haddonfield boys' varsity and JV basketball games at Sterling High School on 02/04/2021 have been rescheduled to March 4 at Sterling with JV at 4 and varsity at 5:30.

People forget that it is not just the varsity that has to be rescheduled, but many times the JV and for freshman teams for schools that carry a freshman program.

Teams like Haddonfield that lose two weeks of the season, will be playing catch-up in limited time. That’s because the NSIAA has mandated that the season ends on March 6. There is no NJSIAA state tournament this year, although Haddonfield competes in the Colonial Conference, which will have a conference tournament.

Camden, one of the best programs in the state has had to resculed three games, Jan. 28 at Woodrow Wilson, Feb. 4 at Lenape and Feb. 13 vs. Paul VI.

Athletic director Mark Phillips tweeted that the school would do it best to reschedule these games or schedule new ones.

One of the dates, Feb. 4, has been rescheduled for a game at state power Rutgers Prep.

Woodrow Wilson AD Will Hickson announced that his boys’ basketball program had to be shut down for two weeks due to COVID concerns. That means the following games had to be postponed

Jan. 28 vs. Camden, Feb. 2 vs Seneca, Feb 4 at Washington Township, Feb. 5 at Camden Academy and Feb. 9 vs. Camden Catholic.

Article continues below

- A Show of Strength

With the state ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic, South Jersey is proving there’s more ways than one to put up a fight.

- Seizing the Moment

After the spring season was canceled last year due to the pandemic, these standout student-athletes from South Jersey are hoping to make the most of their opportunities in 2021.

These are just some of the schools that have had to adjust in a season where the schedule has to be rechecked each night for changes.

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Author: Marc Narducci

Due to COVID, Change Should be the Norm for the South Jersey High School Boys’ Basketball Season

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