H.S. basketball finals to return to Palestra

After a 1998 incident in which a student was shot, Penn has been reluctant to host the games. Penn and three other Philadelphia universities agreed this week to split hosting duties for the city's high school basketball championship games, two years after a fatal shooting outside of the Palestra following the game convinced the University to distance itself from the event. Under the agreement, Penn will host the Philadelphia Public School Athletic League finals at the Palestra in 2002, with La Salle University's Tom Gola Arena housing that year's semifinals. This year's and next year's championships, meanwhile, will be at Temple University's Apollo and the semifinals will take place at St. Joseph's University's Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse. "It's something the Big 5 should do for their city," University spokesman Ken Wildes said. The basketball championships, which typically draw crowds in excess of 3,000 people, have been accompanied by violence and crime in past years -- including the fatal shooting on 33rd Street that following the 1998 championship held in the Palestra. Although police later deemed the incident -- which left one dead and three others, including a Penn student, wounded -- unrelated to the game, it prompted Drexel University to back out of hosting the Public League all-star games scheduled for one week later. The shooting also resulted in Penn delaying a decision about whether to host the 1999 championships, forcing the Public League to play the finals last year in St. Joseph's smaller and less accessible Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse. At the 1996 game, a riot nearly ensued following a questionable officiating decision at the Civic Center. And police reported hearing gunshots near 33rd and Walnut streets following the 1997 championship game at the Palestra. Last year's game at the Fieldhouse was not marred by any criminal incidents. Although the University last year steered clear of continuing its host status of the championships, Penn Athletic Director Steve Bilsky said officials were not averse to discussing a joint effort. "When the issue came up of Public League [this year], we decided that maybe if we joined in a partnered way, it would be a good idea," Bilsky said. Bilsky downplayed the safety concerns, pointing out that none of the incidents occurred at the Palestra during the games. Similarly, St. Joe's Athletic Director Don DiJulia did not consider security a major factor. "We've hosted and we've been satisfied with the commitment by the city and the school district to provide adequate security," DiJulia said. "It's never been an issue here." Wildes said safety remains an issue and specific security measures will be addressed once the date of the championships draws closer. "We're just going to have to redouble our efforts? so that the participants and the spectators and the campuses themselves go away from it feeling very good," Wildes said. The four schools were asked to take part in hosting the Public League Championships, according to Public League Athletic Program Manager Linda McGee, because they had hosted the championships before and were the only ones with large enough arenas. The only other possible option, Drexel's 2,300 seat PE/Athletic Center "isn't big enough," McGee said. Although the current agreement between the Philadelphia universities only extends through 2002, the intentions are for the four sites to continue to be home to the championship game. "If it's good for the users and good for the facilities and this orderly process works," DiJulia said, "then there's no reason not to continue." A key part of the agreement is the flexibility it allows the four schools. "With this partnership, we can just be able to depend on another one of those universities to step in and fill the need if one of them has a scheduling conflict," McGee said