Winter storm, snowy roads causing delays for Siskiyou County state basketball playoffs
Ethan Hanson
No. 15 seed Weed will travel to Redding and play No. 2 seed U-Prep in the CIF State Division V first round of boys basketball.
Weed High School athletic director Josh Oates said road conditions settled and chain restrictions from the I-5 in Siskiyou County were lifted near the area.
"We wanted to wait as long as we could but with conditions changing rapidly, we were going to wait until 4 p.m," Oates said. "CIF said we should wait until 2 p.m. and we were able to get in contact with Caltrans workers to verify the roads and the chain controls were lifted."
State high school basketball playoff games around California were being postponed to Wednesday due to poor road conditions caused by another round of snow, freezing rain and ice on major highways.
Mount Shasta High School postponed its first round CIF State Division V boys basketball game due to unsafe conditions along the I-5, school athletic director Jerry Oldham said.
The No. 16 seed Mount Shasta Bears were scheduled to travel south to play No. 1 seed Venture Academy of Stockton at 7 p.m. Tuesday. That game has been rescheduled to Wednesday.
"We are worried about travel and safety of our students," Oldham said.
Motorists were being screened Tuesday for snow chains north of Redding by California Highway Patrol.
"You can't even get into the school if you don't have chains on your vehicle," Oldham said.
No. 3 seed Weed girls are scheduled to host No. 6 seed Mendocino at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.
Trinity High School crossed Highway 299 through Weaverville and will play its first round boys basketball game. No. 13 Trinity will compete against No. 4 seed Fortune Early College in Elk Grove in the Division V bracket.
No. 1 seed Fall River said its girls basketball will host the first round playoff game against No. 16 seed Big Valley Christian of Modesto at 7 p.m. Tuesday. Fall River athletic director Rafael Sevilla said the school was closed due to snow but Big Valley Christian was still planning to make the trip north.
No. 3 seed U-Prep girls soccer was expected to host No. 6 seed Placer in snowy conditions to kickoff the CIF State NorCal Division IV playoffs at 3 p.m.