Roof leak damages Tates Creek basketball court, forces schedule changes
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Leak warped court's southwest corner; warranty team evaluating permanent fixes.
- Practices split; games played at Transylvania, other schools, auxiliary gym.
- Boys team on a four-game streak despite challenges caused by winter storm and leak.
Practices, games and the upcoming boys and girls 43rd District basketball tournaments have had to be scheduled away from Tates Creek High School’s Nolan Barger Gymnasium after a roof leak discovered over the winter storm break damaged the four-year-old facility’s court.
Tates Creek boys basketball coach Keaton Belcher said the leak was discovered Feb. 3 as some of his staff prepared for a road game at Lexington Christian. Due to Fayette County Public Schools’ winter storm cancellations, there had been no practices or games at Tates Creek over the preceding 12 days.
“I had a couple of people tell me that our roof was leaking onto our gym floor and that warped the floor. And it was unsafe playing conditions,” Belcher said.
The damage appeared confined to the gym’s southwest corner near the left baseline 3-point line opposite the gym entrance, Belcher said.
“We are aware of the facility issues at the Tates Creek High School gym,” FCPS district spokesperson Miranda Scully said “Our maintenance teams are currently on-site taking the appropriate steps to address the matter.”
FCPS chief operating officer Myron Thompson said emergency repairs had been performed Feb. 3 to stop the leaks. As ice has melted on the roof since, the problem worsened, he said.
“More splits occurred in the same area and some new areas,” Thompson said Wednesday. “The roof is under warranty, and the warranty company is onsite today evaluating all areas of damage for permanent fixes.”
Initially, both the boys and girls basketball teams arranged practices off site, but they have since been able to use the main gym for practice with its center-court curtain walling off the area being repaired.
The new Tates Creek High School, an $84.5 million project opened in 2022, has an auxiliary gym, but its use is heavily scheduled with other sports, including wrestling and archery, Belcher said, and its limited capacity of 345 people is unsuitable for most games.
Both Tates Creek’s boys and girls teams have been able to play games at Transylvania’s Clive M. Beck Center instead. The girls team played Fort Knox there Thursday. The boys team played Paul Laurence Dunbar there Monday and will have its Senior Night festivities there when it plays Frankfort on Feb. 17.
Other Fayette schools will also host Tates Creek home games. Tates Creek’s boys were scheduled to play Lexington Catholic at Paul Laurence Dunbar on Wednesday. The girls team will play Dunbar at Frederick Douglass on Monday.
“Everybody has been so accommodating. I feel like our administration would do the same thing for other people if they needed it,” Belcher said. “We are very thankful that people in this city are showing great hospitality.”
Tates Creek’s auxiliary gym was used for its girls team’s Senior Night against Pineville on Feb. 7. Both teams will play home games in the auxiliary gym Feb. 21.
“It’s been a challenge. The kids aren’t in sync and not in a routine, so it’s just been really hard,” Tates Creek girls coach Jana Costner said. “But we talk about being able to adapt to certain situations and pivot. … We’ve talked to them about ‘We’ve got to be flexible. We’ve got to work together and help each other out.’”
Playing on the college floor at Transy was “awesome,” Costner said. “We’re really thankful for that opportunity. They were super happy. Both teams were thrilled.”
Coincidentally, Bryan Station High School also has been dealing with a roof leak issue in its gym over the past week. That leak hasn’t damaged its court, but it caused the postponement of last Friday’s boys home game against Sayre to the following Sunday afternoon and forced its girls home game against Tates Creek to be played Tuesday at Creek’s auxiliary gym.
Bryan Station athletic director John Byard said the Defenders don’t expect any other changes to their home schedules at this time.
This is the second major disruption of activities in Tates Creek’s gym in the four school years since it opened. In October 2024, a ball kicked into one of its light fixtures during a physical education class caused the fixture to fall and strike a student. That repair forced tryouts and practices off the court for a few weeks.
This latest disruption comes during the stretch run to the boys and girls basketball postseason. The Tates Creek boys team has secured a top-three seed in the upcoming 43rd District tournament and is on a four-game win streak.
“A big hats off to our kids,” Belcher said. “I told them two days ago we could play in a parking lot and they would still show up and compete. We’ve won four in a row and haven’t played a home game in a month. They’re locked in, which says a lot about their character, honestly.”
Lafayette will replace Tates Creek as district tournament host when postseason play begins Feb. 23. Tates Creek will assume Lafayette’s spot in the host rotation next season.
This story was originally published February 11, 2026 at 12:05 PM.
