The Dalles High Riverhawks had something to prove in a Jan. 26 Tri-Valley Conference Class 4A boys basketball home win versus Gladstone. Led b…
The Dalles High Riverhawks boys basketball team was penalized by the Oregon School Activities Association (OSAA) after it was deemed two players were ineligible following a review of their transfer last summer from Hood River Valley High School.
The penalty consisted of eight games being forfeited by The Dalles, which previously had an 8-6 record. The Riverhawks’ record is now 1-2 in the six-team Class 4A Tri-Valley Conference and 1-15 overall. After the OSAA’s decision, The Dalles dropped from an OSAA No. 10 ranking to last place at No. 31. OSAA Executive Director Peter Weber says that penalties like this are not unprecedented, but they rarely happen.
“We’ve been working with The Dalles High School for a few weeks to get information so that we could review the situation,” Weber said. “We finalized our decision … and then we notified the school so that they could talk to the team and then the notification was posted on our website Wednesday. The students applied for a hardship process, and it was approved by the Tri-Valley Conference, and they are now eligible to play basketball. We’ve had a couple situations like this over the years when something similar is discovered at a school, but thankfully, it doesn’t happen very often.”
The two student athletes spent the first trimester of the 2023-2024 school year at Innovations Academy in The Dalles, an alternative school that is a member of the North Wasco County School District No. 21 but was not a member of the OSAA. It was during the OSAA’s review of the transfers that it was discovered that the two students were not eligible based on the fact that Innovations Academy was not an OSAA member. Innovations Academy did join the OSAA last week.
The Dalles High Athletic Director Billy Brost had no comments to the Columbia Gorge News regarding the situation.
The two students received eligibility after a vote of the three-member TVC board of directors earlier this week. The players will be eligible to compete in the remaining nine games on the schedule as well as any potential upcoming playoff games.
“It’s really sad what happened, and this outcome was very surprising for me,” said Coach Brian Stevens, referring to the OSAA’s decision.
The top two teams in the Tri-Valley qualify for the state playoffs.
“We have a good chance to win our last nine games and if Crook County loses a game, then we would have a chance to win the league title,” said Stevens, before the Riverhawks lost Jan. 28 at Madras.
A notice was posted on the North Wasco County School District website Thursday evening which reads as follows.
“The previous district had already signed off on the transfer of students and due process was followed. From our perspective, there was no reason for us to believe that these students were ever ineligible. We are actively exploring the potential to appeal the earlier decision made by the Oregon School Activities Association in order to reinstate the forfeited games.”
As referred to above, the forfeit of games was because Innovations Academy was not sanctioned by the OSAA.
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