A scheduled game between the Elmore County Panthers and the Holtville Bulldogs was called off after a member of the Holtville team tested positive for COVID-19.
The player apparently tested positive after displaying symptoms of COVID after the team's last practice before the Tuesday game.
According to brackets on the Alabama High School Athletics Association’s website, the game will count as a win for Elmore County, who will go on to the finals of the area basketball tournament on Feb. 12.
Michael Collins, head coach of the Holtville Bulldogs, said because of a possible exposure to the positive case, a total of seven players on the team, as well as Collins, needed to quarantine.
Collins said the player’s symptoms were “manageable” and should be expected to recover.
“I’m just thankful we got all the way through,” he said. “We finished with a winning season. We had a good chance to win (the game), but that’s one of those things about this year.”
According to Holtville Athletic Director Jason Franklin, the player has improved since testing positive, but as part of the protocol surrounding COVID-19, the player, as well as the seven others and the coach, were required to isolate.
Franklin said the school has been following all protocols and guidelines related to the pandemic, which includes mandatory temperature checks, social distancing and mandatory mask-wearing.
Holtville had been scheduled to travel to Eclectic to play the Elmore County Panthers in the four-team tournament for Area 6 in the Class 5A tournament. Elmore County will now go on to play the winner of the Marbury-Jemison game.
