Even basketball players weren’t able to stay dry in the rain that has plagued Mississippi for more than a week.

Thursday’s high school basketball games between Porter’s Chapel and St. Aloysius were postponed when a leak in the roof of St. Al’s gym allowed rainwater to puddle on the floor of the court.

The teams played a junior varsity girls game, but coaches for both teams didn’t want to tempt fate with the varsity.

“The roof was leaking so bad that there was no way we could have been fast enough to keep up with it,” St. Al coach Eddie Pickle said. “It was one spot on the floor, but it was right under the basket. We had a student wiping the floor after every possession. The JV game was slow enough that they could do it, but it was going to be hard to do that with the varsity. It just wasn’t safe.”

The games between PCA and St. Al were rescheduled for Saturday, Dec. 12. The junior varsity boys will play at noon, followed by the varsity boys at 3 p.m. and the varsity girls at 4:30.

Of more urgency is St. Al’s next home game, scheduled for this Saturday against Clinton Christian at 5:30 and 7 p.m.

The rain is forecast to taper off on Friday and Pickle said a repair crew is supposed to look at the roof at some point in the day.

“We’re going to try to play it. We’ll get the guy out here and see what he says,” Pickle said.