It’s a go.
Ooltewah athletic director Jesse Nayadley has announced that the District 5-AAA basketball tournament will be played Thursday, starting at 3 p.m. with two third-place games and girls and boys championships slated for 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. at Ooltewah High School.
The games have been delayed three times due to weather.
“We will play (Thursday), starting at 3:00,” Nayadley said in a text.
The championship matchups pit Bradley County’s No.
1-seeded Bearettes (20-5) against No. 2 Walker Valley (20-6) at 6 p.m. and the top-seeded Bradley Central (19-8) Bears taking on bitter rival No. 2 Cleveland (17-7) at 7:30 p.m. for the boys’ title.
Third-place games will tip off the day’s action.
For the girls, No. 3 Cleveland (15-12) plays No. 4 Soddy-Daisy at 3 p.m. and host fourth-seeded Ooltewah (15-16) battles No. 7 Soddy-Daisy (11-17) at 4:30 p.m.
Bernard Childress, the TSSAA executive director, has said publicly the state organization is “running out of options” for the completion of district tournaments.
Thursday morning’s decision will give District 5-AAA teams a chance to determine their seedings for the Region 3-AAA tournament that begins on Monday.
Quarterfinal girls regional games will be played on Feb. 23 at the higher seed’s home court. Boys quarterfinals are set for Feb. 24. All those games will begin at 7 p.m. local time.
On Feb. 25, the Region 3-AAA boys and girls semifinal games will be played at Ooltewah at 4, 5:30, 7 and 8:30 with the championship games now set for Feb. 26 at 6 (girls) and 7:30 (boys).
The Schedule
Girls Third Place
(4) Soddy-Daisy vs. (3) Cleveland, 3 p.m.
Boys Third Place
(4) Ooltewah vs. (7) Soddy-Daisy, 4:30 p.m.
Girls Championship
(2) Walker Valley vs. (1) Bradley Central, 6 p.m.
Boys Championship
(2) Cleveland vs. (1) Bradley Central, 7:30 p.m.
Region 3-AAA Tournament
Feb. 23 – Girls Quarterfinals at higher seed, 7 p.m.
Feb. 24 – Boys Quarterfinals at higher seed, 7 p.m.
Feb. 25 – Girls, Boys Semifinals at Ooltewah High, 6 and 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 26 – Girls, Boys Championships at Ooltewah High, 6 and 7:30 p.m.
(E-mail Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @larryfleming44)