Sellout leaves some fans who made trip out in cold

RICHMOND

The last thing fans wanted to see after hours on the road - in the rain and traffic - was a sold-out sign at the Siegel Center for the Group AAA basketball finals.

But by 5 p.m. Friday, tournament officials sent notification stating just that.

After breathing sighs of relief after the Eastern Region tournament moved from cozy Churchland High School to the expanses of Scope, traveling South Hampton Roads fans turned away this time had to be thinking 'not again'.

"I'm sure we have some, but we sold out early enough to get the word out," said Nate Doughty, associate director of the Siegel Center. "So we avoided the big problem."

That would be turning away a handful of would-be patrons compared to entire lines, which were lengthy as many as three hours before the 7 p.m. tip-off for the girls final.

Princess Anne's Elizabeth Williams said she saw most of her teammates' parents in the stands, but added she wouldn't have been surprised if some were shut out.

"I heard they had a lot of difficulty getting in," she said.

Princess Anne activities coordinator Alyson Myers said she was worried that much of the Cavalier contingent was left out in the rain, adding she was unable to get tickets after being in Richmond since Wednesday, the night of the semifinals.

Doughty said each of the schools had a chance to pre-sell up to 1,000 tickets and Princess Anne was the only school not to sell any. He added the center held "a couple of hundred tickets" for Princess Anne to do consignment sales Friday - any remaining were then released to the public.

Lake Taylor had a more considerable vocal advantage in the stands.

"I took care of every member of the Titan family that said they were coming up," Lake Taylor activities coordinator Bobby Pannenbacker said.

Pannenbacker said he asked for a pre-sale allotment of 250 and sold all but 30 of them, which he sent back to leave for will-call sales along with a list of names. Before a prior tournament, he had asked for 250 and sold 28.

"I never had the call for more than that," he said of his 250-ticket request. "Why would I ask for any more?"

Norcom activities coordinator Oronde Andrews said his entire allotment of tickets were sold by 11 a.m. Friday.

"My people were everywhere," Andrews said. "They're still asking me for tickets. I've gotten text messages asking for tickets. I just keep saying I don't have any."

The Virginia High School League basketball championships have been held at the 7,500 seat Siegel Center since 2004 and remain at the site until 2014.

VHSL Information and Communications Specialist Mike McCall said that in 2007 a number of Highland Springs fans were unable to watch their team win the boys basketball final because patrons from the earlier contests remained in the stands. So last year, tournament officials moved to a sessions format, clearing the arena before the start of each group of games, which ranged from two to six. The Group AAA boys and girls finals were an entire session.

McCall reiterated that schools could pre-sell tickets and fans could purchase tickets for any session during the entire tournament, though there weren't any available for sale online.

"I hope that all the parents and fans that wanted to attend are here. Nobody's called me and said, 'My mother can't get into the game.' But I have one extra ticket just in case," Andrews said. "We were the first school to get all 1,000 sold - I.C. Norcom brings a crowd."