St. Francis basketball’s bid for state title ends as CIF cancels contests amidst COVID-19 concerns
The bags were packed. The buses were scheduled. The hotels were booked.
The St. Francis basketball team was set to depart for Sacramento at noon Thursday as the Golden Knights planned to spend time in the state capital before the program’s first-ever CIF State championship game at the Golden 1 Center on Saturday.
However, the growing concerns of the coronavirus outbreak throughout the country and world has halted the weekend’s state championships, as the CIF moved to cancel all title games early Thursday.
Boys’ Basketball: Top-seeded Golden Knights reach state championship contest for first time in program history following 53-44 home win against Roosevelt in CIF State Division II Southern California Regional championship game.
“The decision was made after careful deliberation and in the primary interest of protecting the health and safety of our member schools, fans and most importantly, our student-athletes,” Thursday’s CIF statement read. “While we understand this decision is disappointing, we strongly believe that the opportunity to compete in this event does not outweigh our obligation to place the health and safety of our member schools and school communities above all else.”
St. Francis, the top-seed in the CIF State Divison II Southern California Regionals, was set to embark on a nearly 400-mile journey for its first state title game against No. 4 Stockton Weston Ranch of the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section.
At 9 a.m. Thursday, the CIF held a conference call with participating teams, St. Francis coach Todd Wolfson said It was a brief discussion.
“It was just quick,” Wolfson said. “It’s hard. I have to go and try to keep it together and tell my seniors that they played their last game. That’s hard.”
Once notified of the news, Wolfson messaged his team to meet in the locker room during a break period. Upon entering, Golden Knights senior Andre Henry said he and the team knew something was wrong.
“He broke the news to us,” Henry said. “You can tell he was holding back tears, but then it was like a chain reaction. Everyone just got super emotional. It was just hard to deal with.”
It was an outstanding and historic season for the the Golden Knights, who ended the campaign with a 30-8 record and won the CIF State Division II Southern California Regional championship.
Henry, who is set to play at UC Irvine, averaged nearly 25 points per game in the state playoffs.
“It was heartbreaking at first,” Henry said. “Just the way how the season ended abruptly and out of our control, which I think sucks the most because we worked extremely hard this year. We just wanted to finish our story.”
St. Francis, which also reached the CIF Southern Section Division II-AA title game and fell short of it’s first division title against No. 1-seed Santa Clarita Christian, turned aside No. 16 Carlsbad, No. 9 Birmingham, No. 12 Oxnard and No. 6 Eastvale Roosevelt on its way to earning its state championship bid.
“People doubted us from the first day,” said Wolfson upon reflecting on the end of his fifth season. “We’re not very assuming when you look at us, but that’s why I love this team so much because they just defied every odd.”
Wolfson said St. Francis will be able to get reimbursed for its travel costs.
Concerns of the spread prompted Mission League rival Harvard-Westlake move its lessons online and the school to suspend its spring sports indefinitely on Wednesday.
The Mission League has since suspended competition until March 28. After that date, the league will reevaluate the circumstances and decide a path moving forward, according to St. Francis athletic director Matt Luderer.
The St. Francis administration decided to shut down all activities and transition to online learning beginning Monday until further notice.
“We’re just devastated for the kids, the coaches, the community and our alumni,” Luderer said. “That was a very exciting season, and unfortunately, we’re not going to get to complete it.
“We’re very proud of them for what they’ve done and accomplished, especially for our seniors for what they’ve been able to do after being there for four years.”
The CIF’s decision came after the NBA suspended its season Wednesday. After the NCAA announced it’s men’s and women’s basketball tournaments would be played without an audience, conferences such as the Pac-12, AAC, SEC and Big Ten basketball canceled their tournaments prior to the CIF’s announcement.
The growing number of COVID-19 cases prompted California Governor Gavin Newsom to call for a ban of gatherings with more than 250 persons. As of Wednesday, there are 177 known cases in the state.
USC, UCLA and a number of Cal State University schools have also transitioned to online classes in an attempt to slow the spread of the virus.