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AHOSKIE – The 2021 high school basketball season begins later today (Wednesday) for Hertford County High School.

This comes after the Hertford County Board of Education, through a majority decision via a poll conducted on the telephone, voted to allow student-athletes at the high school and middle school to participate in basketball.

Public school classrooms remain closed in Hertford County due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Those students are engaged in remote learning.

“The Hertford County Board of Education has voted to allow our teams to participate in middle school and high school basketball games for this season,” stated Dr. William T. Wright Jr., HCPS Superintendent. “There was strong emphasis from each board member that strict adherence to the guidelines is an absolute must for our student-athletes and coaches. Staff members are asked to work with excellence.”

HCHS boys and girls teams are slated to travel to Greenville tonight to play J.H. Rose High School. The girls game tips-off at 5:30 p.m. followed by the boys at 7:30 p.m.

Hertford County’s next two scheduled varsity games are also on the road: Jan. 15 at Farmville Central and Jan. 19 at First Flight.

Both HCHS teams began practicing last month, as allowed by the local school board and the NCHSAA.

The North Carolina High School Athletic Association Board of Directors approved a limited schedule for basketball during the 2021 season, which is limited to 14 regular season games with no more than two games played in the same week.

The NCHSAA is also requiring players and coaches to wear face masks during games. In addition to the normal number of timeouts awarded each team during games, a 60-second officials’ timeout is now mandated in each quarter for basketball to provide an opportunity for athletes to adapt to wearing masks during competition.