With winter weather forecast to begin sometime Friday evening, several area school systems postponed athletic events for this weekend and officials have had to cancel the entire slate of Saturday games at The Basketball Academy.
Anne Arundel County, Baltimore County and Harford County postponed all events and practices for Friday and Saturday. Carroll County postponed all Friday evening events but Saturday events will go on unless a snow emergency plan is announced.
Baltimore City has canceled all events for Saturday but Friday games, including three at The Basketball Academy, were to go on as planned.
In Howard County, Friday basketball games were moved up to try to beat the weather, which was forecast to be anything from snow to sleet to freezing rain to all rain. The precipitation is expected to last through the middle of the day Saturday.
One of the major events of the winter season, The Basketball Academy is a three-day academic and athletic event at Morgan State. Most of the games scheduled for Friday and Saturday included Baltimore or Harford county teams which had to pull out when their counties postponed all weekend activities.
That left just three boys games for Friday night: City vs. Thomas Stone at 4 p.m., Lake Clifton vs. Friends at 6 and Edmondson vs. St. Frances at 8 p.m.
Bob Wade, coordinator of athletics for the Baltimore City Public Schools which sponsor The Basketball Academy, said this is the first time weather has had such a major impact on the 19-year old event.
"We've had snow before, but we've been able to mix-and-match, but this is the first time we've had to cancel a date," Wade said. "When you look at Saturday's schedule, it's all Baltimore County and Harford County teams and Thomas Stone and Riverdale Baptist are not able to come either. That leaves only the Baltimore City schools and they've already played each other."
Later Friday evening, Baltimore City canceled all school activities for Saturday, so city teams can't play either.
Wade had hoped to get in all of Friday's games because most of the athletes were already on the Morgan State campus for the academic component of The Basketball Academy, but he said Baltimore County and Harford County officials directed their teams to return home early in the afternoon.
Archbishop Spalding and Riverdale Baptist were not at Morgan State Friday, because they participated in the academic side Thursday and they were not allowed to play when athletic events in their counties were postponed.
Organizers said they would try to reschedule games for Feb. 7, but had not selected a location. Tickets for today's games will be honored on Feb. 7, organizers said.
In Howard County, all events scheduled for 6 p.m. or later were postponed, but basketball games will be played. Howard's boys and girls will play Marriotts Ridge at 4 p.m. and all other games are at 5:30.
Many private school games have also been postponed including Loyola Blakefield's basketball game at St. Maria Goretti.
In girls basketball, No. 11 Seton Keough at No. 9 Archbishop Spalding has been postponed. No. 1 Roland Park moved its Friday basketball game vs. St. Frances to 5 p.m., an hour earlier than scheduled.