Two Tennessee schools tossed from states for tanking

Two Tennessee high school girls' basketball teams saw their state tournaments end early on Saturday, but not because they lost a tough game. Quite the opposite: they're out because they purposely tried to lose. One team went as far as trying to score in the other team's basket.

The referee in the Feb. 21 game between Riverdale (Tenn.) and Smyrna (Tenn.) reported it to the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association, writing that Riverdale “missed 12-16 free throws intentionally," while Smyrna “wouldn’t get the ball across the half-court line to get a 10-second count or to make us call an over and back violation intentionally.”

At one point a Riverdale player "looked at one of the officials and gave the official a 3-second signal wanting him to call three seconds on her. Smyrna stood in the lane as well to have us call three seconds on them.”

Then it got even more ridiculous.

“A Smyrna player was about to attempt a shot at the wrong basket (but there was a 10-second violation call before they attempted the shot) on purpose. That was when I called both coaches together and told them we are not going to make a travesty or mockery of the game. WE ARE NOT GOING TO START TRYING TO SHOOT AND SCORE FOR THE OTHER TEAM.”

Two Smyrna administrators reportedly told the coach to stop, and he obliged, putting the starters back in the game. Smyrna went on to win 55-29.

The TSSAA acted quickly on the report, removing both teams from the tournament (it's not a single-elimination bracket), fining them $1,500 each, and putting them on probation for the 2015-2016 school year. The decisions were explained in letters to the schools, which were posted online.

The Riverdale coach didn't own up to telling the girls to lose, the TSSAA executive director told the Daily News Journal.

“He said he talked to them about bracketology,” said Bernard Childress. “He told them, ‘This is where we will be if we win, this is where we will be if we lose.”

Apparently he didn't mention where they would be if they tanked.

School administrators asked that the coaches be suspended but that the teams be allowed to continue in the tournament. The TSSAA declined the request.

“The student athletes bought into it,” Childress said. “They were the ones asking to call three seconds. They were the ones stepping back over [midcourt]. They were the ones not attempting to shoot at the basket.”

And because of that, their season is over – a sad ending that the Smyrna coach only seemed to realize after it was too late.

“It was hard to swallow,” he said. “It was hard to tell my three seniors that their season is over. That was the toughest moment of my life."