OHSAA girls basketball tournament moving to Dayton

COLUMBUS — No one can be absolutely sure when the next Ohio High School Sports Athletic Association girls basketball tournament will take place.But when it does, it will be in a new location. OHSAA Executive Director Jerry Snodgrass announced Tuesday that the tournament will be shifting from Columbus to the University of Dayton Arena for the next three years.The 13,000-seat arena — which is the home of the Flyers' basketball teams and was renovated in 2019 — already has played host to a number of OHSAA tournament games. It also has hosted the Atlantic 10 and NCAA basketball tournament games."Southwest Ohio loves and supports basketball and the people at the University of Dayton have made it clear that they really want this state tournament on their campus," Snodgrass said. "We believe that we have found a great home for the girls basketball state tournament."In the 45 years of the girls tournament, it has been hosted at The Ohio State University 44 times. In 1986, the tournament was hosted by the University of Akron. A move was necessary for the upcoming years because there are a limited number of dates available to use OSU's Jerome Schottenstein Center or St. John Arena.The 2021 girls tournament is to take place March 11-13. The 2021 OHSAA boys basketball state tournament will be played at St. John Arena the following week. There is no host site in place for the boys basketball state tournament in 2022.Scott DeBolt, Senior Associate Athletics Director at the University of Dayton and Executive Director of UD Arena, said the facility will be a good fit for the girls tournament."The same ingredients that make UD Arena the ideal place for the NCAA First Four – community support and excitement for the game of basketball, our facilities, staff and tournament hosting experience," he said, "will help create lifelong memories for the young women who come to Dayton to play in the state tournament and their school communities."