After “exhausting all appeal efforts” regarding a student-athlete’s eligibility, the Collinsville boys basketball team has dropped from the No. 2 seed in this week’s Class 2A, Area 12 tournament to the No. 4 seed.

The tournament begins Monday and will now be played at Gaston High.

WEIS Radio was first to report the news.

Collinsville principal Bobby Crawford released the following statement to AL.com detailing a winding process that ultimately led to the team having to forfeit 15 regular-season games.

“We had a student-athlete enroll in the summer of 2023 and, based on guidance from the AHSAA, the student was allowed to compete during the 2023-24 basketball season. Upon completion of the regular season, the AHSAA reached a different conclusion regarding the student’s eligibility. We exhausted all our appeal efforts, including a successful overturn of the ineligibility ruling by the AHSAA District 8 Board. However, the AHSAA Central Board of Control upheld the decision to declare the student ineligible. While we disagree with the Central Board’s ruling, we respect the process the AHSAA uses to resolve disputes such as these.”

Fyffe was originally set to be the No. 1 seed and host in the Area 12 tournament. However, due to forfeits by Collinsville, Gaston ended up tied with Fyffe in the standings and won a coin toss to host the tournament.

The Bulldogs will now host Collinsville, which drops from the No. 2 seed to the No. 4 seed, at 6:30 p.m. on Monday. Fyffe will play Sand Rock at 5 p.m. The winners will advance to the championship game on Wednesday and clinch a spot in sub-regional play next weekend.

Collinsville finished the regular season 17-9 prior to the forfeits. The Panthers swept the two regular-season games from Gaston, winning 48-42 at Gaston and 55-34 in Collinsville.