TDHS Boys Basketball in hunt for playoffs despite OSAA forfeit ruling
D21 is exploring the potential to appeal an OSAA decision that forced TDHS Boy’s Basketball team to forfeit 12 games.
By Ken Park with additions by Tom Peterson
North Wasco County School District 21 Athletic Director Billy Brost
The Dalles, Ore., January 30, 2024 — Two players for The Dalles High School boy's basketball team have been reinstated after the Oregon Schools Activities Association (OSAA) ruled that they were ineligible to play, forcing the team to forfeit twelve of its games.
The team, however, is still in the playoff hunt and Athletic Director Billy Brost is looking for a reversal of the OSAA decision.
The players were ineligible because they were attending North Wasco County’s alternative high school, Innovations Academy, which did not have OSAA membership, a requirement for eligibility.
That was an apparent revelation for school leadership.
“We had no reason to believe that our process was not the correct process to follow,” said Superintendant Dr. Carolyn Bernal.
Superintendant Dr. Carolyn Bernal
Since it was pointed out, Innovations Academy has applied for and received an OSAA membership during the past “few weeks,” Bernal said.
The Dalles High School Athletic Director Billy Brost told The Oregonian last week that the two players had transferred from Hood River Valley over the summer to Innovations Academy for the fall term. They played most of the non-conference games for the Riverhawks with the knowledge and approval of both Head Coach Brian Stevens and the team itself, he said.
After news of the forfeits went public, parents and community members took to social media to comment with some claiming that the district should not seek to appeal the decision. Others stated that Brost should be fired for knowingly allowing the players to play without approval from OSAA, putting the season at risk for eligible players.
When asked if the District stood by the decision to allow the boys in games before receiving official eligibility, Dr. Bernal said she was still “waiting on a timeline of events to be provided to me.”
Brost told the Oregonian, “When the investigation got underway I felt in my heart that they would be eligible.”
It didn’t happen.
After the ruling, Brost and Coach Stevens in an attempt to maintain the player’s eligibility asked the Tri-Valley conference for a vote on the issue and the three-member board voted unanimously to keep them in play.
Regardless of that Tri-County decision, OSAA required TDHS to forfeit the games.
North Wasco County School District 21 (D21) stated on Jan. 26 regarding the player's eligibility status, the ruling of the OSAA, and the response of the Tri-Valley Conference Rules Committee.
“In response to OSAA’s recent decision to forfeit Riverhawk basketball games, the Tri-Valley Conference Rules Committee has thoroughly reviewed the situation. The committee has voted unanimously to reinstate the players in question, and they will continue to play for Riverhawk Basketball,” D21 said. “The previous district had already signed off on the transfer of the students and due process was followed. From our perspective, there was no reason for us to believe that these students were ever ineligible.”
In the statement, D21 also said it is exploring the potential to appeal the decision by the OSAA to forfeit the games and reinstate the team’s record.
“As of right now, we are working with OSAA to review all avenues in which we might be able to appeal the forfeitures,” Brost said in an email.
Doing so would return the Riverhawk's record to 8-9 rather than 0-17.
The team remains in the playoff hunt, with seven league games left, including one tonight, Jan. 30 at Mollala. The team is 1-2 in league play with a loss to Crook County on Jan. 15, a win against Gladstone on Jan. 26, and a loss to Madras on Jan. 27.
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