What had been expected for a long time officially has become reality — there will be no Class 6A state girls basketball tournament.

That information came from the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association, which had said as recently as a week ago that it was making every effort to reschedule all Class 2A-6A state tournaments.

Ponca City’s girls team qualified for the state March 7 with an exciting 68-64 overtime victory over Booker T. Washington in the Owasso Area Tournament. The Lady Cats were scheduled to play Deer Creek of Edmond in the opening round of the State Tournament in Tulsa March 12.

Because of concerns about the potential spread of COVID-19 at events involving large crowds, the OSSAA decided on the morning of March 12 to postpone all state tournaments with an eye to playing them at a later date. Ponca City’s team was on its bus in the Tulsa area when it learned of the postponements.

Wednesday, the Oklahoma State Department of Education cancelled the rest of the school year for Oklahoma schools. That ruling left the OSSAA with little choice but to announce that there would be no tournaments.

Ponca City girls’ Coach Jody Fincher had the following reaction:

“Today came the announcement of the official cancellation of the state basketball tournament. I am so proud of how far this team progressed throughout the year and all they overcame.

“Several times this year I’ve had coaches and even fans of opposing teams come and tell me how much they enjoy watching these girls play. People always talked about how gritty and tough the girls were and how they played the game the right way. I wanted to watch them keep playing and proving to people that rankings didn’t matter. What mattered was the fact they they refused to quit playing and never gave up.

“This group of girls can take great pride in knowing that they were playing their best basketball at the end of the year and that they could beat anyone they set their mind to. On top of everything they dealt with trials and difficult situations off the court. Most kids would have buckled under the strain, but not these girls. Hopefully at some point we will be able to have a basketball banquet to celebrate accomplishments of this team.

“I love these girls and I am beyond proud of them. Thank you to everyone who supported this team throughout the season.”

The Lady Cats finished the season with a 21-7 record. They were No. 15 in the last OSSAA rankings and were consistently ranked below other teams with lesser records. Their opening round against Deer Creek would have pitted them against the No. 2 ranked team. Other teams qualifying for the state tournament were Norman, Edmond North, Moore, Sapulpa, Tulsa Union and Choctaw.