Get the latest Boston sports news
Receive updates on your favorite Boston teams, straight from our newsroom to your inbox.
Judge grants Easton’s Oliver Ames boys basketball team late entry to MIAA tournament
A judge ruled in favor of the basketball team Monday, allowing them to participate in the tournament despite missing opt-in deadline.
Families of Easton’s Oliver Ames High School’s boys’ basketball team gathered around their phones Saturday afternoon, awaiting the matchups for the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association tournament.
Instead of seeing their team listed on the bracket for the upcoming tournament, however, the players were heartbroken to learn that they weren’t included.
“We all were texting, ‘What is going on?’ Just a state of confusion, all trying to figure out what had happened,” student Jake Willard told Eli Rosenberg of NBC Boston.
Despite qualifying for the tournament late last week, the MIAA requires teams to manually opt in by the Feb. 16 deadline.
Advertisement:
“The school failed to complete the entry process into the boys’ basketball state tournament,” the MIAA said in a statement. “A total of 428 qualified boys’ and girls’ basketball teams, as well as 202 qualified boys’ and girls’ hockey teams, submitted their entry forms before the February 16 deadline approved by the MIAA membership.”
Attorney Joe Grimaldi, whose son Justin is a sophomore on the Oliver Ames team, filed an injunction on Monday morning.
“What they are doing here is not right,” Grimaldi said, per NBC. “It didn’t benefit the kids who actually earned a playoff spot.”
Ultimately, the judge ruled in favor of the Oliver Ames boys basketball team, mandating that the MIAA re-seed the tournament to include the new addition.
Advertisement:
When the MIAA has added teams to the tournament in the past, they are placed at the back of the seeding list. However, this ruling requires the MIAA to slot Oliver Ames into their original No. 32 seed spot. In doing so, 19 teams will face revised matchups in the first round.
“This decision, and the subsequent re-seeding of the tournament, has significant ramifications,” the MIAA said in a statement. “Four schools were scheduled to begin competition Monday evening, and those that were actually en route to the opponents’ venues were forced to turn around and return home because of the judge’s decision.”
As of late Monday night, the Division 2 State Championship Tournament bracket was re-released. The first games of the tournament are set to tip off Tuesday.
According to NBC, Willard and his team is relieved and looking forward to taking to their home court on Wednesday night against Norwood High School.
“I think it is all a great life lesson, really learning how it all happens, all the proceedings, and obviously it feels good when it goes your way,” Willard said.
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com