AUGUSTA, Maine — The next Class B basketball state championship games are scheduled for March 3, 2017.
Where those games will be played is less certain.
Under the MPA state championship game rotation for basketball, next year’s Class B state finals were scheduled to be played at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland.
But the Cross Insurance Arena will host early-round games of the America East women’s basketball tournament next March 4 and 5, and the league will have use of the facility on March 3. That has forced Maine Principals’ Association officials to consider alternate sites for the high school boys and girls state title doubleheader.
Maine Principals’ Association and Cross Insurance Arena officials first learned of their scheduling conflict in early May when meeting to review the 2016 tournament at that facility as well as to discuss future plans.
“It’s one of those things that’s unfortunate,” said Maine Principals’ Association Executive Director Dick Durost, “but we certainly will find a way around it.”
The state championship weekend for high school basketball most often is held during the final days of February, as was the case this year when those games in all classes were played on Feb. 26 and 27.
In 2017, Presidents Day — the first Monday of the annual February school vacation and of regional tournament week — is Feb. 20, thus pushing state championship weekend back to March 3-4.
Durost said that historically officials at the Portland facility would save out the dates the Maine Principals’ Association needed for its state championship weekend, but newer management that has operated the Cross Insurance Arena since 2015 may have been less familiar with that tournament schedule from year to year, particularly since the state finals essentially will be a week later in 2017 than they were in 2016.
Durost said this is not the first time such a scheduling issue has come up surrounding a championship event.
“Several years ago, we had something similar involving a cheering competition, and we just had to juggle some things,” he said.
The scheduling issue with the Cross Arena may be more than a one-year situation for the MPA given that America East is scheduled to hold the early rounds of its women’s basketball tournament at the Portland venue in both 2017 and 2018, but that has not yet been determined.
Durost said he expects the Class B state finals issue to be resolved by October, when the Maine Principals’ Association’s basketball committee holds its next meeting.
“There’s no reason to say that we have to make a decision now in the last 10 days of June,” he said. “We’ll wait and make the final decision when the committee is together next October, and I’m certain the committee will look at all the options.”
One of those options might be the Portland Exposition Building, which already hosts quarterfinal games for Classes A and B South. But that building seats about 3,000 fans — less than half the capacity of the 6,700-seat Cross Arena — and 4,293 spectators turned out for last winter’s Class B state finals at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.
“With the Expo, I’ve got concerns about whether it could handle the kind of crowds that we’ve been getting recently for Class B,” said Durost.
Preliminary dialogue has been held with officials at the state’s other tournament venues, the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor and the Augusta Civic Center.
“We’ve had conversations with the facility in Augusta and the facility in Bangor, and they’ve both graciously agreed to hold that Friday night open until we can make a decision,” Durost said.
“That’s certainly not any kind of a commitment to take it out of Portland, and it’s not a commitment to put it in either Augusta or Bangor. We’ve just had the conversations, and both facilities have said they’ll hold onto that date for the time being, and we’ll work this out in October, and the games will be played somewhere.”
