Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland officials have postponed all playoff games scheduled for Friday and Saturday because at least one member school will be closed Friday and officials want to maintain consistency among all teams throughout the playoffs.
In an email announcement, IAAM officials cited "potential security threats, potential school closures and taking a proactive approach" to the playoffs as schools may opt to close to assure the safety of their students as uneasiness lingers following Monday's riots and as more protests are planned for this weekend.
Several IAAM schools are in Baltimore City and one, The Institute of Notre Dame, already has opted to close on Friday.
The postponements affect lacrosse and softball play-in games as well as the badminton championships.
The badminton finals, which include IND and were scheduled for Friday, will be moved to Tuesday at Roland Park.
In lacrosse, six play-in games -- four in the A Conference and two in the C Conference -- will move to Monday, remaining at the higher-seeded school. The quarterfinals and semifinals for both conferences will be moved to Wednesday and Friday. The championship games will still be held on Sunday, May 10 at Gerstell Academy in Finksburg.
No play-in games were necessary in the B Conference, so the quarterfinals and semifinals will remain on Tuesday and Thursday with the final on May 10.
In softball, one C Conference play-in game was to be played Friday and that will be rescheduled between the two teams, Beth Tfiloh and Friends. Otherwise, the softball schedule will remain as planned with quarterfinals Tuesday, semifinals Thursday and the championships on Saturday, May 9 at Stevenson University in Owings Mills.
Sue Thompson, executive director of the IAAM, said teams can play regular-season games on Friday and Saturday, leaving those decisions up to each school. However, she said, league officials prefer to keep all playoff games running on the same schedule, so with even one school closed, the postponements were made to keep the schedule consistent.
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She said information would be sent Friday about the procedure for seeding brackets that include teams unable to finish their regular seasons.
