Home >  Sports >  High School Sports

Tuesday, March 25, 2003

By Mike White, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

The Sto-Rox and Camp Hill Trinity boys' basketball teams could face penalties for their parts in a benches-clearing brawl during the PIAA Class AA championship Saturday in Hershey. Some Sto-Rox fans also could be penalized for coming onto the court during the fight.

	Sto-Rox and Camp Hill Trinity players fight Saturday during the second quarter of the PIAA Class AA basketball championship game in Hershey. (Chris Knight, Associated Press)

The PIAA will have a hearing in May with officials from both schools. PIAA Executive Director Brad Cashman said some Sto-Rox fans might be barred from attending games for at least a part of next season.

"The most troublesome thing about this is that the fans from Sto-Rox felt they had to get involved," Cashman said. "For them to come over the [hockey] boards and try to get involved, that took it to another level. We have to make sure we address this matter with everyone involved."

Cashman said the PIAA will gather tapes of the incident and other evidence. A photo in the Sunday Post-Gazette clearly shows some Sto-Rox fans on the court during the fight.

"If some of the fans can be identified, and Sto-Rox does not take appropriate action against those fans, our Board of Control could say that the school will have to forfeit any championship rights next year unless you suspend some of those fans," Cashman said. "Those suspensions could be for the regular season or, worst-case scenario, the postseason."

Cashman said the principals at Sto-Rox and Trinity will be asked to investigate the incident and give a written report to the PIAA. The two schools could take disciplinary action on their own against players, coaches or fans.

Sto-Rox Coach Bill Minear and Athletic Director Ray DiMichele said Sto-Rox superintendent Tony Skender is handling all comments on the situation. Skender was unavailable.

"If our board does not feel the actions taken by the schools are appropriate, the board will be in position to impose penalties they feel are appropriate," Cashman said.

Cashman said the penalties could range from probation for the schools to suspensions of players, coaches or fans. About 10 Sto-Rox fans jumped over the hockey boards at the Giant Center when the fight started. Some of them also had to come over a small railing near the court.

"Everybody has 20-20 hindsight on security when something like this happens," Cashman said. "But security is an issue we will be addressing with the Giant Center. We are going to even address the possibility that maybe we need to leave up the glass panes that are there for hockey."

Trinity, located near Harrisburg, won the game, 66-49. The fight started with six minutes left in the second quarter when Sto-Rox's John Geiger was taking the ball out of bounds in front of the Trinity bench. After the official handed him the ball, Geiger turned around and started punching Trinity's Matt Wesner, who was seated on the bench.

After the game, Geiger said he was provoked by someone on Trinity's bench who grabbed him between the legs from behind.

After Geiger punched Wesner, the benches emptied. Punches were thrown by players on both teams.

When order was restored, Geiger was given a technical foul and ejected from the game. No one from Trinity was penalized, although a number of Trinity players were fighting. Later in the game, Sto-Rox's Davon Huger was thrown out for swinging at Trinity's Chris Crane.

When the game ended, neither Geiger nor Huger participated in the handshake ceremony between the teams. They were directed by PIAA officials to not participate.

Under PIAA rules, a player must sit out the next game if he is ejected. So Geiger and Huger will be suspended for the first game of next season.

The PIAA could have stopped the game after the fight. Under National Federation of High School Associations and PIAA rules, any players leaving the bench area during a fight are automatically ejected. But Bob Lombardi, Associate Executive Director of the PIAA, and the three game officials decided to eject only Geiger and to continue with the game.

"We just felt to end it there, without giving the teams the opportunity to play, would've been grossly unfair to the teams," Lombardi said. "You have to apply the rule with spirit, intent and common sense."

Cashman was on an elevator going to a radio interview when the fight erupted. He agreed with the decision to play the game.

"We know people are going to criticize us, and some are going to think the game should not have continued," Cashman said. "But we believed the best thing to do was to play the game."

If the rule says any players leaving the bench area during a fight are disqualified, why couldn't the contest continue only with the players in the game?

"Everyone was involved and they all would've been thrown out, so there really would've been no one left to play," Lombardi said. "Did we waive the rule? Yes, we waived the rule. But we did it in the best interest of the championship game."