photo by: Carter Gaskins

Lawrence High senior Mayson Quartlebaum (15) holds up the sub-state championship plaque Saturday night at LHS on March 7, 2020.

High school state basketball tournaments are taking place and will allow spectators despite the growing concern over the new coronavirus, organizers of the tournament announced Thursday.

Three Lawrence teams are scheduled to play in the state tournaments Thursday. The Free State boys team plays at 4:45 p.m. in Wichita, while the Lawrence High boys team plays at 8:15 p.m. in Wichita. The Bishop Seabury boys team is scheduled to play at 6:30 p.m. in Manhattan. Teams that win Thursday also will be scheduled to play on Friday and Saturday.

Wichita State, which is hosting the Class 6A tournament in Wichita, said all Thursday games would be played with spectators but that the status for Friday and Saturday was still undetermined.

“We will continue to monitor new information from our public health organizations as it becomes available and make any changes to the state basketball tournaments if needed,” the Kansas State High School Activities Association said in a statement on its website.

It advised fans to look for updates at kshsaa.org or on Twitter at @KSHSAA.

The statement urged any fan who is not feeling well to stay home and avoid the tournament sites. The statement also said tournament sites were “taking additional precautions to provide the safest possible environment for the teams, fans and workers,” but did not specify what any of the precautions involved.

KSHSAA’s decision to continue the event and allow fans runs counter to many regional and national organizations, including the Big 12 Conference, which has canceled its basketball tournaments, and the NCAA, which has decided to play its tournaments without spectators.