Brawl Breaks Out Between Basketball Rivals in West Hartford (Videos)

It was a wild scene Monday night in West Hartford when emotions erupted and a fight broke out in the final seconds of the boys’ basketball game between archrivals Conard and Hall at Hall High.

The game was a battle and Hall pulled out a 43-42 victory and students rushed the court, but confusion over whether or not the game was over may have led to the chaotic scene, according to the Hartford Courant.

Videos of the fight were posted on Twitter and while it’s difficult to tell what exactly happened, some players, and others, do appear to be throwing punches and fans can in the stands can be heard talking about a fight breaking out.

Hall scored the game-winning basket with about 3 seconds remaining but Conard coach Jared Leghorn told the Hartford Courant that the incident occurred because Hall students thought the game was over although time still remained.

Leghorn said that after Hall scored, he immediately called out a timeout to stop the clock and the “ref recognized it but it just didn’t connect.”

Even though the referee called timeout, the buzzer went off and Hall students rushed the court to celebrate the victory and the wild scene unfolded.

West Hartford police officers were dispatched to Hall at the conclusion of the game and upon arrival officers helped private duty officers and school personnel maintain order.

Police said there were no reported injuries from the melee. Hall students were then told to leave the gym and subsequently did so.

The remaining 2 seconds of the game were played without incident.

Police said they are actively investigating the incident and enforcement action may be taken if warranted.

Update:

West Hartford Superintendent of Schools Thomas Moore told the Courant that administrators are “deeply embarrassed” about the fight that took place and that he will do “all I can to make sure that people that embarrass their schools and their classmates, if they can’t represent the schools properly, there will certainly be consequences.”

Read more here.

Update II: The Twitter account that posted the original videos was changed to a private account and are no longer visible to the public. Sean Patrick Bowley of GameTimeCT recorded the videos and slowed them down (and slightly enhanced them).

Watch videos, via GameTimeCT, below: