Re: Check out this fight
AHSAA rules Carver-Montgomery and Valley are out of state tournament; Talladega in Final Four
Posted by Jeff Sentell -- The Birmingham News February 18, 2009 3:09 PM
Categories: High school sports
BREAKING NEWS: The Alabama High School Athletic Association has placed Carver-Montgomery and Valley on restrictive probation. Both schools are removed from the AHSAA state basketball tournament. Talladega High School will automatically be placed in the AHSAA Final Four next week in Birmingham.
Special/Dennis Victory
Carver's Roquez Johnson, left, and Valley's Enrique Florence triggered Tuesday's fight in the 5A Central Region semifinal at Alabama State following a foul with 6:23 remaining in the game.
Montgomery television station WSFA 12 has footage of the fight here
Restrictive probation limits both squads to regular season play and prohibits any participation in the AHSAA championship program. Both schools were removed from the Class 5A Central Regional tournament that is being held in Montgomery at Alabama State this week.
Carver did not get the win. The AHSAA ruled the final outcome to be a double forfeit from both schools. There was no set time frame on the length of the probation.
"The probationary period is on-going at this time," AHSAA Executive Director Steve Savarese said. "We will not reach a conclusion on the probationary period until all the facts are in. But they will be on probation for a while."
No ejections, fines or suspensions were discussed. The punishment is only for boys basketball programs at each school.
"There will be additional assessments," Savarese said. "But right now we had to deal with the immediate."
Talladega High School advances to the Class 5A Final Four next week in Birmingham. They will not have to face an opponent in a regional final. If they win the state championship, they will only need to win four playoff games to claim the 5A title. Every other team in the state must win five games to net a state championship.
When asked about specific punishments for fans or players involved, Savarese said it was an ongoing investigation and additional actions could be taken in the days ahead.
All 11 of the juveniles detained yesterday following the melee in the Carver-Montgomery versus Valley boys basketball game in the Central Regional at Alabama State's Acadome have been arrested, according to Alabama State director of university relations Kenneth Mullinax.
Charges filed by Alabama State include assault, criminal mischief, disorderly conduct, failure to disperse and inciting a riot.
"Alabama State will not tolerate acts of violence at any of its facilities," Mullinax said.
Savarese declined to go into detail whether any of those juveniles were players or the exact number of any arrests he was aware of.
"There are students from the Montgomery City Schools system and the Chambers County system," Savarese said. "When you put those numbers together, I am sure they will total 11 or more. But it is ongoing. The police were here this morning. They reviewed additional footage of the contest and can and will make further arrests."
Savarese met with the media for 13 minutes Wednesday afternoon at the AHSAA's state offices in Montgomery.
"It's very unfortunate that we even have to make a statement of this nature," Savarese said. "But I want to make one so we don't forget all of our member schools who conduct themselves in the manner that represents the mission of the Alabama High School Athletic Association where sportsmanship and behavior is always at the forefront of our contests."
Savarese said both teams will visit the AHSAA's state headquarters in Montgomery on Thursday for continuing education about what took place. He noted there would behavior experts from around the state -- including Birmingham -- at that meeting.
"We are going to bring both teams in here tomorrow," Savarese said. "We're going to meet with both teams. I have speakers coming in to talk with both teams tomorrow. We are going to try and change the behavior of these children. If there is an incident like this again in their life outside of athletics, then they can learn from this experience to help change their life down the road and maybe not make this mistake again."
Savarese they had the "complete support" of both schools in this decision.
"We are crushed," Savarese said. "I mean we are crushed. Again because of the example we set for all the children in this state. Who come to watch our events. Who compete in our events. To learn positive skills from our events. We've let them down and we're going to learn from this situation. We're going to correct it and get better and the schools involved are cooperating and we are all going to be better off for it in the long run."
Here's a twist: The Carver-Montgomery and Talladega girls teams will meet Friday morning in a Class 5A Central Regional final. That was to be the same pairing in the boys' final had Tuesday's events not occurred. The melee broke out with Carver-Montgomery holding a 52-37 lead with 6:23 left in the game.
That's when Valley's Enrique Florence was whistled for fouling Carver's Roquez Johnson. A shoving match between the two players escalated into a brawl as both benches emptied onto the floor underneath the basket near Carver's bench at Alabama State's Acadome.¶
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