AIA announces 2A-4A state title games to be played at Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Prep Basketball

Veterans Memorial Coliseum will serve as a temporary home for the three-time WNBA champion Phoenix Mercury while Talking Stick Resort Arena undergoes a $230-million renovation. The AIA announced on Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2020, that the 2A-4A state basketball championships will be played at the coliseum. (Phoenix Mercury/Courtesy, via Cronkite)

Veterans Memorial Coliseum will serve as a temporary home for the three-time WNBA champion Phoenix Mercury while Talking Stick Resort Arena undergoes a $230-million renovation. The AIA announced on Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2020, that the 2A-4A state basketball championships will be played at the coliseum. (Phoenix Mercury/Courtesy, via Cronkite)

Findlay Toyota Center in Prescott Valley to host 1A state title games

PHOENIX — Before Phoenix Mercury players step foot in their new home at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum this summer, Arizona high school basketball teams will get first ups.

On Friday, the Arizona Interscholastic Association officially announced that the 2A-4A conference state basketball championships will be played at the former home of the Phoenix Suns, or as it was known between 1968 and 1992, “The Madhouse on McDowell.”

“We’re really excited for our student-athletes to have the opportunity to culminate their seasons at one of the most iconic venues in the Valley,” AIA Executive Director David Hines said in a statement, adding with the improvements made in preparation for the 2020 Mercury season, it is sure to be an experience “everyone will remember.”

Not all of the state conferences will play a state title game at the coliseum as the 5A and 6A games will return to Tempe on the campus of Arizona State University at Desert Financial Arena.

The 1A conference will host its state title games for boys and girls at the Findlay Toyota Center in Prescott Valley.

The 2A and 3A state semifinals are scheduled to be Friday, Feb. 28, at the coliseum, but the 4A semifinals will be at high seed sites.

For reference, Prescott and Bradshaw Mountain are in 4A.

The 4A state title games are set for Saturday, Feb. 29. The 5A and 6A conference also decided to conduct their state semifinals at high seed sites.

Brian M. Bergner Jr. is news/sports editor for The Daily Courier of the Prescott News Network. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and SoundCloud at @TheEditorDesk. Email him at bbergner@prescottaz.com, or call 928-445-3333, ext. 1106.


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