By Tom Nader

Publisher and Editor

The Ohio High School Athletic Association announced on Wednesday that the high school boys and girls basketball state tournaments will return to the traditional Final Four format that it once had.

All state semifinalists will play across one weekend in one shared location to determine state championships.

The University of Dayton Arena will continue to host all seven state championship games, but not all state semifinal games will be held at UD Arena because of logistical conflicts created by the new seven-division format.

The OHSAA announced that additional host sites in the greater Dayton area will be announced as new host sites for some of the state semifinal games.

The announcement was made by the OHSAA on Wednesday as part of the organization’s Board of Directors meeting.

“We looked at several options on how to conduct this year’s state tournament with seven divisions, because UD Arena is not available to host all 21 games,” said Doug Ute, OHSAA Executive Director. “We settled on the football model, with the state semifinals held on the weekend prior to the state finals. The feedback we received from the coaches at this year’s state tournament led us to make this proposal to the board to go back to the traditional final four model, which will require additional sites. There are some great options in that area and we are already working on those details.”

The OHSAA can look at last fall’s volleyball state semifinalis as a blueprint. With 21 volleyball contests, the OHSAA used three additional sites to supplement Wright State University as the host venue.

This June, the baseball state tournament will use one additional site. Firestone Stadium in Akron 

The specific state tournament schedule and additional sites will be announced at a later date.