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The principal, athletic director and boys basketball coach at Notre Dame High School spent Monday scrambling to find a new venue for Tuesday night’s CIF State Division I Southern California Regional final against Sierra Canyon.
Notre Dame, the division’s No. 1 seed, was expecting to host the game on campus, but that won’t be the case.
“We always tell schools to have an alternate site ready for those big game due to capacity,” said Rebecca Brutlag, the CIF State media relations officer. “We used to have neutral sites for regional finals, but we’ve seen that the games are better attended when played in their local community.”
The game was moved to Calabasas High.
Notre Dame athletic director Alec Moss was notified about the location change via email Sunday at 10 a.m.
It will be the fourth game this season between the two teams. Notre Dame won the first three. The winner Tuesday advances to the CIF State championships in Sacramento at the Golden 1 Center this weekend.
CIF State’s recommendation for hosting/spectator accommodations. Sheds light on why these games get moved, especially when almost 1k tickets have already been sold.
Notre Dame’s gym holds 900. Calabasas’ gym holds 2,250. CIF State wants venue to handle up to 1800 for DI final. pic.twitter.com/1tD5VFBpJa
— Tarek Fattal (@Tarek_Fattal) March 6, 2023
The move was prompted over concern about the capacity of Notre Dame’s gym, which holds 900 people. The school has sold nearly 1,000 tickets already. That’s not including the allotted tickets to be sold to Sierra Canyon fans.
The CIF State handbook recommends that the Division I regional final be played in a venues that can hold 1,500-1,800. Calabasas’ gym can hold 2,250.
But it’s not as simple as playing the game in a different gym. There are several logistical obstacles when it comes to planning for a high-interest event like the game…
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