Sports
Fulton and Lenoir City girls basketball fined, remain in TSSAA playoffs after fight – Knoxville News Sentinel
Two days after the girls basketball teams for Fulton and Lenoir City had a fight that brought fans on to the basketball court, the TSSAA put both programs on probation and fined them.
However, both programs can continue in the TSSAA basketball playoffs and the Region 3-3A quarterfinals.
The fight happened with a little over two minutes left in the District 5-3A championship game at Austin-East, where Fulton won 45-41.
Fulton was placed on probation through the end of the 2024-2025 school year and Lenoir City through the end of the 2023-2024 school year. Both will be fined $500 annually. Lenoir City was fined $500 and Fulton $1,000 due to the extra year of probation. The decision was issued by TSSAA executive director Mark Reeves.
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The TSSAA had previously set a precedent where teams who had fans involved in an on-court incident led to the programs being placed on restrictive probation, which eliminates the teams involved from the postseason. Reeves, who is in his first year as executive director, told the USA Today Sports Network that restrictive probation was discussed while deciding punishment.
“We discussed restrictive probation as an option, but there were a limited number of players and fans involved,” Reaves wrote in an email. “This coupled with the actions of coaches, administrators and security who quickly restored order made us feel that it did not rise to the level of what we would consider to be a ‘brawl’ between two schools.
“The players involved in the fight were ejected (four total) and they were able to complete the contest without further incident.”
For one of Fulton’s players, a two-game suspension was added by the school to the two games already in place per TSSAA rules after being ejected from the game. The father of a Fulton player that came onto the floor will be banned for the rest of the season. A meeting will be held with this parent prior to the start of next season.
Lenoir City will not allow the fans that were on the floor to attend the next two games involving the school.
If either team has another incident during the probationary period, the TSSAA will take further disciplinary action, according to Reeves’ letter to both schools. Either team has the option to appeal the decision to the TSSAA Board of Control.
The fight started after a Lenoir City player was fouled by a Fulton defender while driving to the basket. After making the shot, the Lenoir City player turned and immediately moved toward the Fulton player, according to the TSSAA letter sent to both schools.
The Fulton player struck the Lenoir City player and a fight ensued between them. Fans came onto the floor from the Fulton side then from the Lenoir City side, according to the TSSAA officials report obtained by Knox News.
Three players from Fulton were ejected and one player from Lenoir City was ejected and by TSSAA rules, any player ejected from a basketball game must sit out the next two contests. That suspension starts with Friday’s region quarterfinals.
Police and staff separated everyone on the basketball court and athletic directors from each school along with the referees decided to empty the gym of all fans. After the gym was clear of fans, the fourth quarter of the game resumed with 2:30 left to play.