In response to the ongoing public health crisis, the Alabama High School Athletic Association has released basketball play–off modifications – and there are some big changes.

Beginning with area tournament play, all tickets must be purchased online on GoFan or the GoFan app on iPhones or Android phones. The state will set the number of tickets that can be sold at each venue based on the 20 percent capacity limit set by the Alabama Department of Public Health.

Area tournaments will not be held at one venue this year. Instead, the top seed in each game will be the host school. For example, the Belgreen girls will be the top seed in Class 1A, Area 14, and in a normal year, Belgreen would host the entire Class 1A, Area 14 tournament. Not the case this year. Vina’s girls will be the No. 2 seed in the area, so they will also host a first–round game.  If both teams advance to the finals, Belgreen, being the top seed, would be the host school.

This year there will be two sub-region games played at local schools instead of one – which means there will be one less game at the Northwest Regional at Wallace State Community College in Hanceville. Only the Northwest Region finals will be played at Wallace this year.

The Final Four will still be in Birmingham, just not at Civic Center, which is undergoing renovations. The Final Four will be played in two different venues, Bill Harris Arena at the Birmingham CrossPlex and UAB’s Bartow Arena.