Oklahoma HS Girls Basketball Team…’Does The Right Thing’

‘Does The Right Thing

An Oklahoma girls' basketball team thought they won last season's championship game by 1 point. But when they realized there had been a scoring error – and that they actually lost – they chose to give back the trophy. In doing so, they proved true victory comes from integrity,… pic.twitter.com/bLALKLjMqi

— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) October 10, 2025

(10-12-25) This is a special story we don’t often see in high school athletics. ‘Doing the right thing’ is something very special in this story.

An Oklahoma girls basketball team returned its championship after discovering it actually lost the title game

After seemingly winning the District title in the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association (OSSAA) , the Academy of Classical Christian Studies Girls Basketball Head Coach Brendan King went home that same night and watched the game tape. At one point in the game, there had been some confusion about the scoreboard.  

King told CBS News

“As soon as I walked out of the locker room, my stomach kind of turned into knots. And I said, ‘I’m going to need to know if we really won this game or not.”

So, just to be sure, he recounted every basket and discovered that his team had actually lost. The game had ended with Academy winning 44-43, but King discovered the score should have been 43-42, with Apache High winning.

Apache head coach Amy Merriweather told CBS News that her team is glad to have the title, but even happier for the hope that came with it.

Merriweather said –

“It showed us, you know, there are still good people in this world. It’s something we’ll always remember.”

The result…

The OSSAA reversed the outcome of the game after Coach King and his team reported the scoring error. Although Academy had initially won the championship, the correction meant Apache should have won. 

Key details of the reversal:

• The initial result: Academy High School won the game with a final score of 44-43.
• The discovery: After reviewing the game tape, Coach King realized there had been a scoring error, and the final score should have been 43-42 in favor of Apache.
• The decision: Despite a league rule stating scores are final once a game concludes, Academy’s team and coach appealed their own victory. They unanimously decided it “would have felt wrong” to keep the championship under the wrong pretenses.
• The outcome: The Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association (OSSAA), agreed with the appeal. Coach King personally delivered the championship plaque to the Apache team.
• The impact: Both teams received praise for their integrity and sportsmanship. Apache’s coach, Amy Merriweather, noted that the act –“showed us… there are still good people in this world”. 

Hats off to CBS for featuring this ‘feel good’ story. Both schools ended up in all of this as ‘winners’.