Who killed Dual State?

Is Dual State dead? If it is, who or what killed it?
After doing a lot of research on the internet, we concluded the Dual State Tournament is the longest running regular-season boys and girls high school basketball tournament in the country. At 78 years, Chris Yarbrough couldn't find another tournament with that kind of longevity.
Unfortunately, the old tourney looks to be on its last legs. This year, the tournament features a paltry five teams in the boys and girls brackets.
I never thought it would get this bad.
The folks in Junction City are trying to revive the old girl but, personally, I don't know if that will happen.
I believe it's the end of an era. I don't think the tournament will recover. I'm not a doctor but I'm pronouncing the Dual State Tournament, while not officially dead, is on life support. Junction City might not be ready to pull the plug, but the tournament will never be the same again.
Now that we know Dual State is dead, who or what killed it?
Some might say the tournament simply died of old age. It's hard to keep anything going for 78 years in a row. At some point, everything has to come to an end.
You could also point to school consolidation as a suspect. The tournament has been built on small school participation. A lot of the small schools that made up the field no longer exist.
I've heard people mention unruly crowds. I never thought that was a problem until last year's event was called off due to the crowd behavior. I won't list that as a primary cause of death. But, let's say it was a small contributing factor.
Okay, how about the home cooking? Junction City is tough to beat at Dual State, just ask Emerson and Hamburg - two teams that left the gym in a huff after controversial calls decided games against them. All I'll say to that, every team that hosts a tournament has an advantage. But, Emerson stayed away for several years after a controversial loss and Hamburg vowed never to come back after losing to the Dragons last year.
My biggest complaint with the event over the years has been the brackets. I understand wanting the local team to get a good draw but when the local team isn't very good, it really screws things up to give them an automatic win. The Lady Dragons have been down for awhile, yet always play deep into the tournament. Unfortunately, this makes for lopsided matchups in the semifinals and quarterfinals, when the tournament should be at its best.
Look at this year's girls bracket. Junction City, winner of one whole girls game, was seeded into the semifinals and will play in Saturday's third place game. How do you screw up a five-team bracket?
That's how.
Despite all these factors, the tournament was still going strong until last year's debacle. In addition to the horrific ending, the tournament had about three different brackets. School officials gave the News-Times a bracket that was put in the paper, then changed it before the tournament started. The new bracket had dates and times changed after the tournament tipped off. It was a complete, disorganized mess, which prompted schools like Parkers Chapel and Nevada County to call it quits.
I thought Joe Paul Hammett did a good job with the tournament. I had some bracket issues, as did other people, but, overall, his tournaments had more talent than the end of season state tournaments. Every year he'd come up with a Louisiana team that was hot to trot. He nearly knocked me out of my chair when he brought top-ranked Palestine-Wheatley to Dual State several years ago.
Unfortunately, Hammett is no longer involved in putting Dual State together. If you really want to know what killed the tournament, there's your answer.
Hammett cared about Dual State. He put in the research and work to make it a great event every year in both boys and girls. If you're going to do the tournament, you have to care about it.
Unless Junction City finds somebody who truly gives a damn about the event, Dual State is as good as dead. I'm going to miss it.