When Pennsylvania closed its schools for the rest of the academic year, thus canceling the remaining winter and upcoming spring sports contests, it left the Big 30 Basketball Senior Classic committee little choice.

The Senior Classic, held the last four years at Portville Central School, typically involves the top senior boys and girls from both sides of the New York-Pennsylvania Big 30 border and raising funds for the Big 30 Athletic Fund’s annual scholarships. At first postponed indefinitely due to school closures, the game was canceled for 2020 last week.

Former Olean girls coach and athletic director Don Scholla said the cancelation didn’t surprise him, but expressed sympathy for the seniors who won’t get to play in the spotlight game.

“They had to go along with everything else, all the other decisions that were made previous to it, the regionals being canceled and the state tournament being canceled, and so it wasn’t a surprise to me, it was something I expected,” Scholla said.

“It didn’t shock me, and it’s the only decision they could make at this time. It’s unfortunate. I feel bad for the kids, the seniors. It’s kind of a fun game, it puts a little closure to their season and their career and I feel bad for them that they’re going to miss out on it as I do for all the kids and coaches that missed out on the end of their winter season and, for that matter, their spring sports season now. Not just the seniors, but everybody. It’s an unfortunate and unprecedented situation.”

Coaches set for the game included Scholla (New York girls), former Smethport girls coach Eric Lutz (Pennsylvania girls), former Olean boys coach Jon Baker (New York boys) and former Smethport boys coach Jim Thomas (Pennsylvania boys). The game committee, part of the Big 30 Athletic Fund, invited the four head coaches to return next year if they choose.

“I’m disappointed,” Scholla said. “It would have been fun. I haven’t coached in a while since I retired from Olean High, my only coaching is done on the radio with the Bonnie games … that’s a lot easier.”

Lutz also looked forward to getting back into coaching after stepping down recently.

“I’ve been out for two years now after 20 years and I thought it would be fun to get back in one more time,” Lutz said. “I watched last year’s, my son played in it, and I thought it was a pretty fun game to be a part of, so when they invited me I was excited to get back on the bench one more time.”

Rosters from the game had already been assembled, with players accepting nominations, but released publicly for the first time with last week’s cancelation announcement.

— The New York boys team included three seniors from Allegany-Limestone: guards Ben Giardini and Gus Napoleon and forward Casey Curran. Genesee Valley had two senior forwards on the team, Evan Windus and Cody Schneider.

Representing Olean on the team was the 2020 Big 30 Player of the Year, guard Covi James. Randolph’s Tyler Hind, the New York State Class Player of the Year, Fillmore’s Luke Cole, Portville’s Dalton Tobola, Scio’s Brendan Graves and Salamanca’s Aaron George were all on the team as guards, along with Wellsville guard/forward Max Jusianiec.

The Pennsylvania boys had two players each from three schools. Coudersport forwards Kolby VanWhy and Dillon Keglovits represented the Falcons, guard Carter Lindermuth and forward Regis Wortman represented Elk County Catholic and Ridgway’s Matt Dush and Zack Zameroski both made the team as guards.

The team had six more guards from six different schools: St. Marys’ Cahil Parrish, Cameron County’s Dino Brown, Kane’s Chad Greville, Port Allegany’s Howie Stuckey, Bradford’s Tyler Gigliotti and Johnsonburg’s Austin Green.

— On the girls’ side, Fillmore led New York schools with three players in the game: guards Hannah Roeske and Riley Voss, and forward Carlee Miller. Allegany-Limestone forwards Taylor Davis and Tierney Hemphill and Portville guard Karly Welty and center Shayla Wilhelm gave their teams two players each.

Hinsdale’s Kayla Brooks, Andover’s Emily Wahl and Cuba-Rushford’s Kate Howe were on the team at guard, Ellicottville’s Evelyn Nuzzo at guard/forward and Pioneer’s Megan Fuller at forward.

Franklinville had three players selected to the game — Big 30 Player of the Year Dani Haskell, Abby McCoy and Abby Burrell — but they could not play at the time due to a scheduled senior trip.

St. Marys led Pennsylvania schools with three players on the girls’ team: guard/forward Kaylee Muccio, guard Megan Quesenberry and forward Allison Schlimm. Coudersport guards Mikayla Gunn and Lauren Stimaker and Ridgway forward/center Christina Fullem and guard Gabbi Rohr gave their schools a pair of selections to the Senior Classic.

The PA girls team had four other guards, with Kane’s Emily Bucheit, Bradford’s Erica Marshall, Otto-Eldred’s Jadelyn Spinney and Port Allegany’s Cailey Barnett, plus another forward, Smethport’s Erin Herzog.