The Class 6A No. 1-ranked Waxahachie Runnin’ Indians were forced to the sideline while under quarantine for COVID-19. Now that the mandatory period has passed, the team is set to begin its final sprint toward the District 11-6A championship.
With the regular season set to end and district certification for the playoffs looming, the Runnin’ Indians (15-2, 8-0) will close out with a grueling gantlet of four games in a six-day span.
The Indians have not played since Jan. 26 in a 66-43 victory over Mansfield Lake Ridge. WHS head basketball coach Greg Gober missed that game as he was quarantining at home because of close contact. Gober’s son Colten, an assistant coach, coached the Indians in that game. Following the game, the elder Gober tested positive for COVID-19 and the entire team was forced to quarantine.
The Tribe will need to make up three games that were lost because of the hiatus. Wednesday is the first day the team can return, giving the Runnin’ Indians one day of practice ahead of Thursday night’s game at DeSoto.
The DeSoto game was supposed to have been the regular-season finale, but instead the action will just be ramping up.
WHS will host Cedar Hill at noon on Saturday at Mike Turner Gymnasium, then the long-awaited second showdown with No. 3 Duncanville will take place at MKT on Monday at 6:30 p.m., followed by next Tuesday’s regular-season finale at Mansfield High, just ahead of the certification deadline.
WHS isn’t the only team in the district that has games to make up. DeSoto had four district games postponed in January, and Lake Ridge also has a number of games to catch up on.
In case games cannot be rescheduled, the district’s contingency plan calls for the result of the first meeting to count double, in order to give each team 14 results.
The Lady Indians, meanwhile, saw their final four district games called off. Because they are out of playoff contention, those games won’t be made up.
The Lady Indians finish the season with a final record of 7-13, including a 4-6 district mark. The team ended the season on a two-game winning streak.