Coming home! 4A SPSL, 3A PCL basketball will return to school gymnasiums starting Tuesday

Just days from Pierce County moving back to Phase 3 of the COVID-19 recovery plan, athletic administrators from both the 4A SPSL and 3A PCL voted Friday to move high school basketball back into school gymnasiums.

True home basketball games will start for both leagues Tuesday - -in front of fans - the first day the county is eligible to return to Phase 3.

"The best thing for kids is to be at their home sites," SPSL 4A basketball commissioner Tim Thomsen said

After Pierce County Health Department officials approved a Phase 3 return, those administrators met Friday - 4A SPSL in the morning, and 3A PCL at noon - to determine the immediate future of basketball.

The last day of the scheduled slate of regular-season games in "The Arena" at the Washington State Fair Events Center will be Saturday.

Thomsen said that both leagues will hold their postseason wrestling tournaments at the fairgrounds during the first full week of June - and could also host an occasional wrestling match or basketball game at the site as well, if two schools wanted to do that.