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COLUMBUS -- The Ohio High School Athletic Association's boys and girls basketball state tournaments will return to a traditional Final Four format beginning in March, the organization announced on Wednesday.
All state semifinalists will converge in the Dayton area on the same weekend for the state tournament, with the University of Dayton Arena continuing to host all seven state championship games and select semifinal matchups.
However, because of the expansion to seven divisions in both boys and girls basketball, the venue cannot accommodate all 21 games. Additional sites in the Dayton area will be used for some semifinal contests. Those sites will be announced at a later date.
"We looked at several options on how to conduct this year's state tournament with seven divisions, because UD Arena is not available to host all 21 games," OHSAA Executive Director Doug Ute said. "We settled on the football model, with the state semifinals held on the weekend prior to the state finals. The feedback we received from the coaches at this year's state tournament led us to make this proposal to the board to go back to the traditional Final Four model, which will require additional sites."
The OHSAA Board of Directors approved the change during its April meeting.
Similar approaches have been used in other sports. Last fall, the girls volleyball state tournament used three additional sites to supplement Wright State University. The upcoming baseball tournament in June will use one additional site, while Firestone Stadium in Akron will host all 21 softball state tournament games.
Soccer expanded to five divisions for both boys and girls last fall, with state semifinal games held midweek and championship matches staged at Historic Crew Stadium in Columbus.
A full tournament schedule and site locations will be announced at a later date.