Robinson Secondary School will host a tripleheader for the Virginia state basketball tournament on Saturday, March 8, Robinson director of student activities Mike McGurk has announced. The Lee girls basketball team will face Eastern Region runner-up Princess Anne of Virginia Beach in the first game of the day at 2 p.m. The T.C. Williams boys team will face Eastern Region runner-up King’s Fork of Suffolk in the final game, starting at 6 p.m.
The middle game will feature George Mason High School of Falls Church taking on Middlesex of Saluda in the Group A state quarterfinals. The Mustangs’ game will start at 4 p.m.
Robinson, which has hosted a first-round doubleheader in the state tournament every year since 2000, was asked to add the Mustangs this year.
VHSL rules stipulate that quarterfinal sites must seat 4,000 fans for a boys and girls doubleheader and 3,000 for a single game. Participating teams may not be a host site.
“You can’t host at your place at the state level. There is always a neutral site,” said McGurk, whose gym can hold 5,000. “Our gym is usually the only one that can host a double header.”
McGurk agreed to include George Mason, which captured the Region B, Division 2 championship.
“You aren’t adding anything as far as work. It just makes the day a little longer,” he said.