A high school basketball team in Kansas already lost a game it never played. Sedgwick High School was forced to forfeit Tuesday’s matchup against Berean Academy because of an absurd rule that absolutely does not need to exist in any form.
It stems from an alumni scrimmage over the holiday break.
The school, which enrolls less than 200 students, is located in the small town of Sedgwick, Kansas— about 30 minutes north of Wichita. As is tradition, the boys and girls basketball programs held their annual alumni games near the end of December. Current players scrimmaged against former players who returned home for Christmas. The Cardinals played two halves and kept score the entire time. Although seems completely normal from an outsider’s perspective, it was actually their mistake.
Using an active scoreboard and a running clock directly violates Rule 30, Article 6, Section of the Kansas State High School Activities Association rulebook. It states:
Should one or more game elements (score or time) be involved, it would no longer be a scrimmage, but must count toward the number of contests allowed during the season. Intrasquad scrimmages, games among teammates, even with score, time and/or officials used would not be considered a game.
— KSHSAA rulebook
Score and time were involved with Sedgwick’s alumni scrimmage. As a result, KSHSAA determined that both elements should constitute an official game. To enforce its ruling, Kansas’ governing body of high school sports forced the Cardinals to forfeit their next scheduled game back after the holiday break.
Sedgwick was supposed to play Berean on Tuesday night. Instead, it was forced to take the loss even though the ball was never tipped. The Cardinals won’t even travel. They already lost!
The reason for Kansas’ rule about scrimmages is unclear. There is no logical reason to penalize a small-town high school basketball program for using a scoreboard during an alumni scrimmage. A slap on the wrist would suffice. Perhaps it is time to amend this part of the rulebook all together. With that being said, this unfortunate forfeit could’ve been avoided if Sedgwick had a better knowledge of the rules!