A high school girls basketball team in Oklahoma City gave up their championship trophy after their coach discovered they had actually lost the title game.
Most of us have gone through situations where we could keep something that isn’t really ours. Maybe it’s extra change from a cashier or getting credit for someone else’s work.
Nobody would find out the truth. But when we become faithful in the little things, God can trust us with greater ones.
The Game Everyone Thought They Won
The Academy of Classical Christian Studies girls basketball team thought they had won their first championship ever. They beat Apache High School with a buzzer beater shot.
The scoreboard showed Academy winning 44-43. The girls screamed and hugged each other. Parents cheered from the stands. It was the perfect ending to their season.
Coach Feels Something Isn’t Right
But Coach Brendan King felt something was wrong. “As soon as I walked out of the locker room, my stomach kind of turned into knots,” King told CBS News. “And I said, ‘I’m going to need to know if we really won this game or not.'”
He went home that night and watched the entire game again. He counted every single basket.
Coach Finds Out the Real Winner
The scoreboard had gotten confused during the game. When King finished counting, his heart sank. Apache had actually won 43-42.
“It really tore me to pieces. It really did,” King said.
Here’s the thing. The league had a rule. Once a game ends, the score stays the same. No changes allowed. King could have just kept quiet. Nobody would have blamed him. His team would have kept their trophy. But he couldn’t do it.
King told his players what he found. The girls didn’t hesitate. “It would have felt wrong, I think, to have taken the trophy, regardless,” one player said. Another added, “It was a really good teaching moment for us to just be, like, this is not the whole point.”
Players Make a Bold Decision
The Academy team did something nobody had ever done before. They asked the league to take away their championship. They wanted Apache High School to get the trophy instead. The league agreed.
Coach King drove to Apache High School himself and handed them the championship plaque. “Just really special that he came out and did that,” one Apache player said.
Apache coach Amy Merriweather saw something bigger happening. “It showed us, you know, there are still good people in this world,” Merriweather said. “It’s something we’ll always remember.”
Those Academy girls lost a trophy that night. But they gained something worth so much more. They showed their community what real character looks like. They proved that doing right matters more than looking good.
WATCH: High School Team Gives Up Title After Coach Realizes They Didn’t Really Win
