The Win That Wasn’t 

When the final buzzer sounded at the 2025 district championship game, The Academy girls basketball team erupted in celebration. It was a hard-fought battle against Apache High School but they had won by one – or so they thought. 

Later that night, long after the gym had emptied, The Academy’s Coach, Brendan King, sat in his Edmond home replaying the game. Something about the score didn’t sit right. At one in the morning, and after numerous calculations, he realized his team had actually lost the game by a single point. 

During the game, a scoring mix-up temporarily stopped play. The scoreboard showed The Academy trailing by four, but the official scorebook listed them trailing by two. According to the rules, the book takes precedence. The game resumed, and The Academy appeared to win by a single point. 

“I didn’t want to believe it,” King said. “We’d already celebrated. But I knew we had to make it right.” 

The following afternoon, he gathered his players. “We met after church, and they could tell something was wrong,” he said. “I told them I’d gone back through everything and we actually lost by one.” 

Though tears and frustration might have been understandable, his team responded with the kind of sportsmanship coaches aim to foster in their players. “They all agreed it was the right thing to do to hand the trophy back,” he said. “I felt proud of them in a new way, not just for how they play, but for who they are.” 

That evening, King called Apache’s coach to explain. The Academy also reported the mistake to the OSSAA, which confirmed the score and rescinded the win. Within hours, King and his wife were on the road, driving an hour and a half south to personally return the trophy to Apache’s team. “They were shocked,” he said. “When the game night had ended, Apache was preparing to enter the playoffs with a loss.” 

Now in his fifth year of coaching, King says it was one of the proudest moments of his career. “A lot of my coaches and teachers growing up made a huge impact on me as mentors,” he said. “I see this role as my chance to pay it forward.” 

He appreciates the entire experience as a living lesson in sportsmanship. “One of our biggest themes is being honorable,” King said. “I tell my players, every time you wear that uniform, you represent yourself, your family, and your school.” 

When The Academy returned to the court the following week, they played not as defending champions, but as something better: a team that chose integrity over glory. “The togetherness didn’t change,” King said. “We are every bit as united in a loss as we are in a win.”