The first scheduled game of the North Collins girls basketball season against Ellicottville had to be postponed as the team was coming out of a 10-day pause related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

But had the game been scheduled for Tuesday night as opposed to Monday, the team would have been able to play.

“We weren’t sure what the case was with it,” said North Collins coach Vincent Fininzio. “Monday would have been our 10th day of our pause.”

The fact that the Eagles would not have had any recent practice time, coupled with the fact that it being the 10th day of the pause left uncertainty as to whether they could play or not, the game was moved. The Eagles’ next game is scheduled for Saturday at 10 a.m. That nonleague game against Buffalo Seminary should be able to be played without a hitch.

The Eagles were never in official quarantine, so the players and coaches who weren’t directly affected by COVID-19 could attend school and work as normal, the team could just not hold any basketball-related activities until the pause was over. Fininzio said that if any games of his would have to get postponed, it’s better that they be these ones.

“I’m happy to be back, and happy everybody is healthy,” Fininzio said. “If it was going to happen to us, it’s best that it happen early as opposed to in the middle of the season so we have time to reschedule games.”

As for the product on the court, Fininzio is happy with how his team has looked early on.

“So far, so good,” Fininzio said. “We’re returning a handful of kids, and we should be OK as far as the division goes. We should be pretty competitive, the kids have been working hard.”