HERMANSVILLE — The 82nd Annual Gold Medal Classic Independent Basketball Tournament has been postponed due to Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s directive in regards to the coronavirus.

The tournament was scheduled to be held March 19-29 at the Meyer Township Community Club in Hermansville.

The new dates for the tournament are April 16-26, with Class A and the women’s division games being held April 18 and 19. The Class B and junior high divisions will run the second weekend of the tournament.

On Sunday, the Tournament Committee of Bob, Bryan and Beau Maule attended a Special Meeting of the Meyer Township board in regards to the tournament and the aforementioned Governors’ directive due to the coronavirus. Upon strong recommendation from the Township Board, the Tournament Committee decided it was best for everyone involved to postpone, but not cancel the tournament at this time.

“We felt that this was the best decision at the current time,” said Bryan Maule, who has been involved in the tournament for nearly 30 years. “To keep the integrity of the tournament, this will be the only postponement we will schedule. If the state of things in regards to precautionary measures are what they currently are a month from now, the tournament will not be held in 2020, and will resume in March of 2021.

A new division that is in the works is what the Tournament Committee is calling the exhibition division. What this will be is a division created In light of the current status of the MHSAA postseason tournament being paused.

“If things in regards to the high school postseason tournaments don’t change, and it’s not completed, this will be an opportunity for area teams who have yet to be eliminated from the postseason to have a place to play, for closure of not only their season, but for the seniors to play one last time with their teammates,” said Maule.

There would be no entry fees charged for the teams involved, nor would the competing teams receive any awards or trophies for winning or otherwise, Maule noted. That would be in order not to break any MHSAA rules or regulations.

Teams that have already expressed considerable interest in this are North Central, Carney-Nadeau and Menominee. Other invitations to other teams will be pending in the coming days, Maule noted.

The new deadline for entry is Saturday, April 11 at 1 a.m. EDT. To enter a team or for further questions, contact Bryan Maule (906-295-0153).