The viewer, who asked to remain anonymous, said there were children who appeared to be 16-year-olds posing with shotguns and “all kinds of other guns.” There is no indication on the page that anyone involved with it attends Woodward, is an alum or is associated with the high school in any way.
Woodward head coach Paul McMillan said it was his understanding there were some kids or adults were going back and forth on that page, making comments.
“I didn’t anticipate us not having a game,” McMillan said. “It’s unfortunate that things like this affect the game of basketball.”
Mickey Reeves, Meadowdale assistant coach, said he, like McMillan, did not see the page but understands there were comments posted about “shooting up the bus.”
Reeves said McMillan assured Meadowdale coaches and parents there would be police escorts at the game. “We talked with our team and principal and thought it was better to be safe than sorry,” Reeves said.
A Cincinnati police officer in District 4, the patrol zone of the city that includes Woodward High School, was not aware of the canceled game. The officer said there is an intelligence unit within the department that handles the monitoring of social media. None of those officers was available Tuesday night.
According to the coaches, Meadowdale may have to lose the game by forfeit. But, Reeves said, “it didn’t matter whether we played that game or not.”
A call to Meadowdale’s head coach was not returned.
The game was added on late in the regular season after a common opponent, Franklin High School, dropped its game against Meadowdale. Ironically, Meadowdale and Woodward scrimmaged in the preseason without incident, Reeves said.
The cancellation follows a decision a few weeks ago by the Dayton City League to move about half the remaining regular season boys basketball games from Friday and Saturday nights to Sunday afternoons. That move was prompted, in part, because of fights after games and rival schools posting comments on social media.
There are three City League games scheduled for Wednesday night. The regular season for high school basketball ends Saturday. The boys sectional tournament games begin Monday, Feb. 23, according to the Ohio High School Athletic Association.
“This is the first time anything like this has ever happened,” Reeves said about the scrubbing of the Meadowdale game. “You kind of want to thank social media for the head’s up.”
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