Incident in South Carolina

[SC Official]

http://www.foxcarolina.com/story/278...asketball-game

This happened last night in my state in a middle school game that I was not working. In the video you'll see the teenager come onto the court and strangle one of the black team players (the black team was actually the home team in this game). From there, all hell broke loose with the stands and both benches emptying. With only a couple seconds left and the outcome decided, the game was ended.

Young officials take note–this can happen to anyone and you must be prepared. Do not gloss over the fighting penalties in the rule book. Do not blame yourself for idiot fans running onto the court, but do know all the rules pertaining to penalties and what you have to report to your association. In this situation, although you cannot tell definitively who participated and who did not, it is clear that both benches emptied completely and came onto the court. The officials in this situation were fortunate that, given the amount of time left in the game, they could just end it and send all the offenders to the state and leave it in their hands. But if this had happened earlier in the game, you have to know your rules for fighting, who is penalized, and how you are resuming play (if your state doesn't mandate a forfeit).

A good lesson for all and a shame that this kind of behavior goes on even at a MIDDLE SCHOOL game.

As a side note, the quote in the article about "helping to restore order" is absolutely ridiculous: the people running onto the floor made matters WORSE, NOT BETTER.