On May 1, the North Dakota High School Activities Association canceled the 2019-20 Class B Boys State Tournament.

BREAKING: #NDHSAA cancels remaining basketball tournaments and spring sports.

Details tonight on Sports Extra.

— Jackson Roberts (@JRobertsTV1) May 1, 2020

It was a blow to the student-athletes and coaches. The greatest tournament in North Dakota just gone. Poof.

Since then the North Dakota Basketball Hub brainstormed ideas that they thought could fill the void of not having a state tournament this season.

Starting tonight (Thursday) the North Dakota Basketball Hub will simulate the Class B boys state tournament using an online basketball simulation game. Four quarterfinal games will be simulated starting at 7 p.m. tonight with the winners moving on to the semifinals round, which will begin at 8 p.m. Friday. The simulated state championship game is scheduled for 8 p.m. Saturday.

This fun simulation is not nearly enough to fill the void of this year’s state tournament but the North Dakota Basketball Hub wants to give the basketball fans something to chat about amid this pandemic. Shout out to everyone that has been able to stay strong during these times. Never take life for granted or high school athletics.

Now without adieu, let’s take a look at the simulation rules and guidelines:

• Every student-athlete is a default 55 overall
• All student-athletes from each team (eight teams) have been created (position, height)
• However, minutes (playing time) have been split between each team’s five starters and a sixth-man
• Quarterfinals, semifinals and championship game will be only games simulated
• Championship game might be live streamed, all other games will be live tweeted
• Box scores will be posted online after every game
• Tournament MVP and all-tournament team will be named
• Remember this is just for fun and is an online simulation