HS basketball game in St. Cloud ends with a brawl w/ fans, players, etc. (video)

[BleedGopher]

per the Pioneer Press:

A brawl involving high school basketball players and fans was reported Friday evening in St. Cloud.

According to media reports, the large fight broke out after a game between Minneapolis North and Brooklyn Center high schools in Halenbeck Hall on the St. Cloud State University campus.

The fight erupted at the end of the game, and was quickly joined by several dozen players and spectators. St. Cloud police dispersed the crowd and escorted the players and the fans outside to their buses and cars.

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https://www.twincities.com/2018/03/18/basketball-game-in-st-cloud-ends-with-a-brawl/

Go Gophers!!

 

[bizzle22]

Wonder if the MSHSL will make Brooklyn Center forfeit their state tourney game. They did that to Prairie Seeds Academy in soccer a few years ago for a similar incident at the end of a section title game. That being said, it’s difficult to tell how many players are involved with this one. In the Prairie Seeds situation it was close to the whole team brawling and there weren’t really any fans involved.

 

[Gopher Skipper]

Wonder if the MSHSL will make Brooklyn Center forfeit their state tourney game. They did that to Prairie Seeds Academy in soccer a few years ago for a similar incident at the end of a section title game. That being said, it’s difficult to tell how many players are involved with this one. In the Prairie Seeds situation it was close to the whole team brawling and there weren’t really any fans involved.

Obviously the clip doesn't tell the whole story, but I only see one team involved here - the black jerseys (believe that's North). Based on both Principals' statements below it would seem to confirm this. And if this is indeed the case Brooklyn Center should have no repercussions at State.

Brooklyn Center Public Schools communications specialist Tara Drey released this statement Sunday morning:

We are aware of an altercation that happened after the basketball game between Brooklyn Center High School and North High School. While we are still looking into the details of what occurred, we maintain high expectations of sportsmanship among our fans and players. At this point in our investigation, we don't believe any Brooklyn Center High School basketball players were involved in the incident.

North Principal Dr. Shawn Harris-Berry sent the following statement to her staff:

North's basketball team's defeat against Brooklyn Center High School ended in some of our players and fans in a brawl with the opposing side. This unfortunate incident is being investigated by the MN State High School League and administrators from both schools. The Polars do not condone displays of poor sportsmanship and will hold individuals who participated accountable for thief actions. An apology and congratulations have been extended to the Principal of Brooklyn Center High.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

FWIW, I know a guy who evaluates HS football officials for the MSHSL. he watched North play a couple of FB games while evaluating the officiating crews. he told me later that North was the dirtiest team he had ever seen - and this is coming from a guy who was a long-time HS ref and now evaluates other officials.

I know it's FB versus Basketball - but if you told me a team from the Metro area was involved in a post-game brawl, North would be my first guess without knowing anything else.

---please note - I am NOT trying to make this a racial thing - bad behavior is bad behavior, no matter who is doing it.

 

[bizzle22]

Obviously the clip doesn't tell the whole story, but I only see one team involved here - the black jerseys (believe that's North). Based on both Principals' statements below it would seem to confirm this. And if this is indeed the case Brooklyn Center should have no repercussions at State.

Brooklyn Center Public Schools communications specialist Tara Drey released this statement Sunday morning:

We are aware of an altercation that happened after the basketball game between Brooklyn Center High School and North High School. While we are still looking into the details of what occurred, we maintain high expectations of sportsmanship among our fans and players. At this point in our investigation, we don't believe any Brooklyn Center High School basketball players were involved in the incident.

North Principal Dr. Shawn Harris-Berry sent the following statement to her staff:

North's basketball team's defeat against Brooklyn Center High School ended in some of our players and fans in a brawl with the opposing side. This unfortunate incident is being investigated by the MN State High School League and administrators from both schools. The Polars do not condone displays of poor sportsmanship and will hold individuals who participated accountable for thief actions. An apology and congratulations have been extended to the Principal of Brooklyn Center High.

Right, I would agree with that assessment of the video. The soccer fight was mostly just players and there was video of the whole thing where you could easily identify all players involved. And there were a lot of them. Part of the issue there was that practically the whole team including some coaches would have been suspended for the state tourney game anyways. I don't see enough on this video think that it would result in forfeiting a state tournament game. Appears to be mostly fans. (And I honestly don't know what color Brooklyn Center's uniforms are, but I think you are right that it is mostly if not all Minneapolis North players shown on the video.)

Here's some video of the soccer fight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9n_sflvBNF4

 

[GopherRock]

IIRC the fight wasn't the only thing that got Prairie Seeds thrown out of the 2012 state tournament. An ineligible player was the primary driver more than the fight.

 

[Gopherholefan]

I 100% agree with what was posted earlier. While the video isn’t the whole story, there are no players is white jerseys in the melee that I could see. Only players in black jerseys which would be the players from North High. This would seem to confirm the statement from the BC administration

 

[mplarson7]

Not really on topic, but why are Minneapolis North and Brooklyn Center playing a section basketball game in St. Cloud? That seems like a really weird location for 2 metro schools to be playing.

 

[GoodasGold]

If you can’t beat ‘em...beat ‘em!