Section Basketball Finals to Move to Anaheim Arena for 1994 Season

Citing security concerns about holding the Southern Section basketball championship games at the Los Angeles Sports Arena, section officials have signed a three-year contract with the Anaheim Arena beginning in 1994.

Dean Crowley, Southern Section associate commissioner, said several school officials voiced concerns about playing at the Sports Arena after the riots in nearby neighborhoods last April.

“There was some concern about the area the arena is in,” Crowley said. “We’ve never had an incident in all the years we have played in the area. And we have had a great relationship with those (Sports Arena) people and the Los Angeles Police Department.”

The basketball playoffs have been held at either the Sports Arena or the Long Beach Arena since 1963, including the past seven years at the Sports Arena.

The California Interscholastic Federation earlier signed a three-year contract to play its regional basketball finals at the Anaheim Arena, also beginning in 1994. The regional finals had been at the Sports Arena nine of the past 10 years.

Crowley said the Anaheim Arena, scheduled to be completed next summer, will charge the section $6,000 a day rent, about $1,000 more than the Sports Arena.

“When you figure in costs for security, ticket-takers and other expenses, the total was in excess of $20,000 at the Sports Arena,” Crowley said. “I would say it would be comparable at the Anaheim arena.”