San Francisco school basketball game ends in fight, one player knocked out
SAN FRANCISCO - A fight at a high school basketball game in San Francisco sent one player to the hospital and now has the team now facing sanctions. Archbishop Riordan High School was hosting the playoff game against Inderkum High School from Sacramento.
Now some players will be suspended from play and Riordan will no longer host this weekend’s game. League officials called this "unsportsmanlike behavior."
Video from the NFHS Network shows an on-court brawl that happened Thursday night inside the Riordan gym.
With just one minute and 15 seconds left, things got out of hand.
In the video, the fight starts after a Riordan player is fouled by two Inderkum players. A Riordan player then shoves one of his opponents in the back. Then players from both sides start pushing, shoving, and punching. One Riordan player gets knocked out. Coaches and parents are seen in the video running onto the court to try and break up the fight.
Referees stopped the game early. The California Interscholastic Federation – or "CIF" – later decided only Riordan would advance to the semifinals, since the score when the game was called had them ahead 61-52. But any players involved in the fight cannot play in the next game on Saturday. Riordan also forfeits home-court advantage.
READ ALSO: East Bay high school Dougherty Valley basketball team reaching new heights
In a statement, the CIF wrote, "The CIF state office, CIF-central coast section, and CIF Sac-Joaquin section offices are working cooperatively on additional sanctions that may be levied on both member schools due to the serious nature of this unsportsmanlike conduct."
Tim Reardon, the president of Archbishop Riordan said he cannot discuss internal disciplinary decisions but did release a statement that said in part, "Last night’s altercation is not indicative of Riordan’s values nor our players’ values. Although we are extremely disappointed that our team is facing these new challenges, I’m confident that our coaches and administrators will make this a learning experience for everyone involved.