BEATRICE, Neb. - Mother Nature had other plans than starting the 2024 MUDECAS Basketball Tournament on time, as a winter storm bringing heavy snow, high winds, and low visibility to southeast Nebraska.

Tournament Director Jerry Rempe tells News Channel Nebraska, the decision came down simply to safety.

“Obviously when you’re bringing in 16 teams from a wide range of areas, safety is the biggest thing,” Rempe said. “All it takes is for one bus to go off the road.”

The official announcement of postponement came on Sunday evening, as girls games now are pushed to Tuesday, with boys action now kicking off on Wednesday - all contests begin at 3:30 p.m. While Sunday was the announcement of the postponement, Rempe said the conversation began long before.

“Well we had our coaches meeting, and we saw the forecast, so the conversation started,” Rempe said. “We kind of previewed the situations, what could happen, what could not happen, and we waited it out until Sunday just so we were sure we had our scenarios ready to go.”

Some of those scenarios included having enough officials and volunteers. With the tournament being put on by members of the Beatrice Kiwanis club, Rempe and the tournament staff made sure they have enough, which he tells NCN they do. Once the tournament does begin, Rempe expects another exciting MUDECAS.

“You’re going to see some good basketball,” Rempe said. “Boys have some really quality teams, some really good girls teams, lots of competition in both… When people do get a chance to get into town, they’re going too see some good basketball, so that’s what I’m looking forward to.”

As of Monday morning, games are still scheduled to start on Tuesday afternoon, but Rempe did note staff will monitor the weather all day Monday to make sure it's safe to get the tournament kicked off on Tuesday. If Tuesday's games were to be impacted, Rempe says the schedule would become TBD.