Playoffs delayed; Apache girls win protest

The Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association has delayed the start of the Class 2A, A and B regional tournaments due to the extreme weather conditions and the OSSAA also announced a protest that sent Apache girls to the regional in the winner’s bracket after a controversial ending to a district title game Friday.

Now the regional games will begin at 1 p.m. Friday across the state including the largest area delegation heading to Chattanooga for a Class B regional.

The incident for Apache happened Saturday in a Class A district at The Academy, a private Christian school in Oklahoma City. With two minutes remaining in the game, Apache girls coach Amy Meriwether went to the officials questioning the score. At that point Apache felt it owned a 2-point lead. There was not an official scorebook designated before the game which is required of every host school.

The Academy eventually made a 3-point bucket in the final seconds that appeared to give it a 44-43 victory. Meriwether used her Hudl video to prepare a protest that Apache Athletic Director Steve Base sent the the OSSAA Friday night. While such protests have seldom been overturned, in this case the OSSAA changed the outcome and awarded Apache a 43-42 victory and The Academy coach delivered the district championship trophy on Saturday to Meriwether.

Apache girls will now face Canute at 6 p.m. on Friday while The Academy girls will face Arapaho-Butler in a consolation bracket game at Canute.

Friday will be a busy day across the state. In Class 2A both Walters and Frederick teams will compete at Riverside Indian School in Anadarko. Both Walters teams play in the afternoon against Mangum while the Frederick boys will meet Crescent at 7:30 p.m. in a winner’s bracket game.

Sterling will have both teams playing in a Class A regional at Alex. The Lady Tigers battle host Alex at 6 p.m. and the Tigers face Hydro-Eakly at 7:30 p.m. Both Cyril teams are in the winner’s bracket semifinals Friday at Stonewall in Class A, Area III. Cyril girls take on Ringling while the Pirates face a tough battle against Velma-Alma at 7:30 p.m.

All of the area’s Class B teams are fighting to advance to the Area II Tournament next week at Cache High School. This week the regionals are being hosted at Hammon and Chattanooga. Both Fort Cobb-Broxton teams are in the winner’s bracket at Hammond with the girls facing host Hammon at 6 p.m. and the Mustangs testing the Hammon boys.

The action at Chatty begins at 1 p.m. Friday with Grandfield girls meeting Ryan. At 2:30 p.m. the Chatty boys battle Ryan. The winner’s bracket semifinals Friday have Chatty girls meeting Geronimo at 6 p.m. and Big Pasture facing Duke at 7:30 p.m.

In the regional sub-site at Mt. View-Gotebo, the host Tigers will be involved with the boys meeting Blair at 2:30 p.m. and the Lady Tigers facing Granite at 6 p.m. in a winner’s bracket game. The boys winner’s bracket game pits Erick against Granite.