Fight halts Georgia girls basketball state playoff game (Video here)
Post-season games always offer an abrupt end to the season for one team or another, but on Tuesday the girls basketball teams at Wayne County and Spalding both took an early exit from the GHSA AAAA state playoffs when first round game was halted after an on-court brawl by the two teams.
The fight (video below) broke out with 3:46 remaining in the first half and both benches cleared and resulted in numerous ejections on both teams. The officials declared the contest a double-forfeit, the first in the 102-year history of the tournament. Since all ejections also carry a minimum one-game suspension, neither team would have had enough players eligible to play in the next round and thus, both squads have been disqualified from the state tournament.
“Basically it was a bench-clearing brawl,” GHSA executive director Robin Hines said to the Atlanta Journal Constitution. “It was shocking and egregious and totally unacceptable, and the GHSA isn’t going to allow that to happen without serious consequences.”
The winner would have advance to play Starr’s Mill, which downed Westover, 66-34, in its opening round contest, but the Panthers will now enjoy a second round bye and advance all the way to the state quarterfinals on February 27th.
The event was another blow for the Spalding athletic program which is still reeling from the news over the weekend that head football coach Carl Kearney Jr. confessed to strangling his girlfriend in Maryland and has been charged with both first and second degree murder.
