On the Mark
By D. Mark Mitchell
The OHS Girls’ and Boys’ Basketball Teams are having trouble playing games as scheduled due to COVID-19 issues.
The Bulldog Boys teams (9th grade, junior varsity and varsity) have cancelled or postponed six or more games on each team’s schedule. Most of the games were not played due to quarantine on the OHS varsity team. Most came as a result of contact tracing, which included coaches.
The boys’ team has struggled and is off to an 0-5 start under first year head coach Emmanuel Brown. Opelika’s last game was Dec. 17 at Handley. The Tigers won 80-76 in a close game.
The varsity boys were scheduled to participate in the LaGrange Holliday Tournament, Tuesday and Wednesday. At press time, I had no information on these games.
OHS is scheduled to play at Auburn High School Jan. 5 at 7 p.m. The first area game will be Jan. 12 in Eufaula.
While the boys’ season has gotten off to a rocky start, Opelika’s Varsity Girls are faring better. The girls currently sit at 4-4 after playing a very difficult schedule, including games with 7A teams Hoover, Smiths Station and Hewitt-Trussville.
Coach Devin Booth’s team traveled to Birmingham last week to play in the “Spain Park Tournament.” The Lady Bulldogs opened with a loss to Hoover, 71-62. Kaitlyn Bryant scored a game-high 21 points, and teammate Haley Sanders added 18 points in the loss.
OHS lost 52-46 against Pleasant Grove at Spain Park High School. Sanders and Bryant continued leading the team in scoring with 21 points and 17 points, respectively.
The Lady Bulldogs are scheduled to play at Auburn High School on Jan. 5 at 5:30 p.m.
The girls and boys are scheduled to play Pike Road Saturday, on Jan. 9, with the girls kicking off a 2 p.m. matinee start. The boys will follow at 3:30 p.m.
ALABAMA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION ADRESS UPDATED QUARANTINE GUIDELINES
Alabama State Superintendent Dr. Eric Mackey sent a memo to all city and county superintendents, explaining why 10 days of quarantine is important.
Dr. Mackey, following CDC guidelines, adjusted the number of quarantine days from 14 to 10 for exposed people who have shown no symptoms. If a person, in quarantine, has no symptoms after the 10th day, he or she can return to school or work. The CDC said if a person has no symptoms after seven days, then they can return to regular activities.
Dr. Mackey told school officials that the rapid spread of cases in recent weeks is the main reason he does not want to implement the seven-day quarantine period. If the positive cases decline and hospitalizations drop, the State Department of Education could revisit.
The vaccine, a game-changer, should be reaching Americans sooner than expected.
For more information, go to the CDC website or the Alabama Department of Education.
Happy New Year’s!
D.Mark Mitchell
334-787-1514