Brawl breaks out between parents, ref at Indiana girl’s basketball game

A brawl broke out during a girls basketball tournament in Indiana over the weekend involving a referee, a player and several spectators, according to USA Today.

As a result of the incident, one team was ejected from the tournament, the outlet noted.

“Yes, it was an unfortunate incident that we had to address this weekend,” Evan Suttner, president of the Pacers Athletic Center, said of the altercation in a Thursday email to IndyStar.

The blowup happened at Indiana’s Pacers Athletic Center during a game between AAU teams Baylor Basketball and Indiana Elite. Baylor was down 22 points with 16 seconds left in the first quarter when the team’s coach began to argue with a referee over a call.

There’s Nothing Like Indiana AAU Basketball pic.twitter.com/leBnsscvbE

— Mantis (@YoungMantis2) April 12, 2021

A technical foul was called on the coach following the argument and in response, she picked up her bags to exit the court, with her players and staff moving to do the same.

As the team began to exit, the referee continued to make his case. Eventually, a spectator from the crowd went up to the referee and started recording him on his phone.

A video that has been circulated on social media then shows the referee throwing a punch at the man. More people soon jump in and begin fighting the referee, who eventually falls to the court as he sustains punches from a player.

“The event staff removed the involved parties from the remainder of the tournament and will not welcome them back to future events,” management at Pacers Athletic Center said in a statement to IndyStar.

“We are disappointed that this altercation happened, as we strive to provide a great experience for families,” the center continued, adding that “a third-party event company’s tournament that was hosted in our building.”

“We take the safety of our staff, referees, players and spectators seriously … and there is no place for this kind of behavior in youth sports,” the center said.