A sixth-grade girls’ basketball team dominated an Ohio boys league — but then got barred from the championships because they might hurt the males’ feelings if they won, their coach said league officials told him.

Next Level Academy’s sixth-grade team was “blackballed” from the Southwest Ohio Basketball end-of-season tournament — despite racking up a 7-1 record — “due to the fact that they are girls,” the academy said in a Facebook post.

“He [the tournament director] was basically trying to blackball the girls from playing in the game they deserve to play in,” coach Erica Hallman told WCPO. “Our girls can compete with the boys any day of the week. Any day.”

One of the directors of the tournament had texted Hallman and Next Level Academy Director Larry McGraw, allegedly telling them the girls were out because they “worried” the boys would “get frustrated and retaliate against a girl” if they lost to the all-female team, “especially in the year-end tourney.”

“Throughout the season we had a few teams come to us about this and raise concerns about it. Because of this we decided to keep them out of the tournament,” the text said, according to the academy. “We have also had three teams drive over to [Kentucky] to play a girls team and they give us an earful.”

This is the second season Hallman’s girls has played in the boys league. The coach, who has quite the background in basketball herself, wants to “put them in a situation where they’re going to be challenged,” she told the local outlet.

The girls have endured “giggles” and “jokes” from fellow players and coaches all season, but still managed to win almost all of their games. The one game they lost was only by a few points, Hallman said.

Hallman says they’re being discriminated against because they’re tough competition and it’s not fair to the girls who worked hard to achieve a spot in the tournament.

Southwest Ohio Basketball, however, said that the Next Level Academy lied to them about the team being all-girl — and that the team can play in the girls’ tourney after the league graciously let them finish the male-league season despite the “deception.”

“In November of 2023, Next Level and Larry McGraw deceptively registered a girls’ team into the 6th-grade boys league and under the gender listed as MALE. We entered them into the league assuming they were a boys’ team as conveniently no roster was ever provided,” it said in a statement posted to its website.

“Several complaints from coaches and teams were filed because of this deception. At that point, we allowed the team to finish the regular season schedule, but would move them into a girls’ tourney at year-end.”

It also said it had been their policy for 28 years to “not allow girls teams to participate in boys leagues.”

The program also said it was “absolutely not true” that the girls were blocked due to their gender.

“They were given the option to play in the upper 6th grade, the 7th grade or even 8th grade girls season-ending tourney, just like all other girls teams,” the statement read. “There are two sides to every story. SWOB stands by our decision because it is one that places the safety of our kids in a competitive environment at the top of our priorities.”

The Post has reached out to Next Level and to Southwest Ohio Basketball for comment.