E&S players left the bench to protect their teammates. Now their season is over
The referees' report from last week's E&S-Constitution Public League playoff game noted that the altercation was started by a Constitution player. E&S had to forfeit and that ruling will stand.
The boys’ basketball players from Carver Engineering & Sciences who left the bench last week came onto the court after fans from Constitution’s stands rushed the court and surrounded their teammates, according to a report by one of the game’s officials that was submitted to the School District of Philadelphia.
The referee said the altercation in Thursday’s Public League playoff game was started by a player from Constitution, who the ref said pushed the E&S player as the E&S player walked away.
“Then I saw a crowd of people from the [Constitution] spectator area of the bleachers running towards those two players,” the referee wrote. “So, I gradually backed off because I didn’t know what was coming next.”
What came next was the reserves from E&S leaving the bench. They “eased onto the court,” the ref said. And that was enough for E&S to be suspended from the league playoffs.
The Engineers were ahead by 12 points with 1 minute, 11 seconds left when an altercation started by an opposing player was inflamed by opposing fans. And now that opposing team is taking E&S’ place on Tuesday against Imhotep Charter in the Public League semifinals at La Salle University.
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Representatives from E&S met Sunday night on Zoom with Jimmy Lynch, the Public League president. Lynch told them the ruling stood. League rules say that a team must forfeit once their “entire bench” enters the field of play.
The PIAA told E&S that the decision stood with the school district. A school district spokeswoman said Monday that the decision would not be changed. Lynch could not be reached for comment.
The representatives from E&S did not argue that their players left the bench but they were hoping that the rule could be applied with the context of the situation: the players came onto the court to protect their teammates once their teammates were surrounded by spectators. The E&S players did not throw a punch or look to fight, the parents said.
“If our students engaged in the on-court incident we would’ve had penalties and suspensions,” said Miya Brown, a mother of an E&S player. “But because we avoided the confrontation, we have been disqualified from continuing on. All of this is so disgusting. It really is. The mission is supposed to be about student safety but they’re ignoring the safety part of this incident.”
“If this brawl happened at the opposing team’s end of the bench and our student athletes ran to the other end of the bench, I could understand. If this happened on center court and our student athletes left the bench, I could understand. But this happened in front of our bench and the crowd is running toward our student athletes. There is no way you can make a just decision based on those facts. It got out of control.”
E&S did not practice Monday but remained hopeful that something would change before tipoff of Tuesday’s semifinal. That seems unlikely.
The Engineers were 20-4 this season before the forfeit became their fifth loss. They won a tournament in Northeastern Pa. and took Imhotep — the defending league champions — to overtime in January before losing. They wanted another shot.
“That’s the matchup everyone wants to see,” said Dave McField, a father of an E&S player.
The referee said he asked during the first quarter for security guards to be placed near the Constitution fans because “they were being unruly.” At halftime, he told E&S’ athletic director that he needed more security. He said a security guard stopped the game in the third quarter to warn the fans but the guard did not stay in the area.
» READ MORE: Public League boys’ basketball team disqualified from playoffs after skirmish
“So when everything jumped off,” he wrote. “Those same unruly fans rushed the court.”
The referee said he planned to eject the Constitution player from the game “because he started this chain of events” and “was the only player I saw push or hit any opponent.” The referee stood in the corner of the court as fans overtook the floor. E&S was 71 seconds left from reaching their first league semifinals in 20 years. Instead, their season was about to end.
“I glanced at the [Constitution] bench area where I saw the head coach next to about five of his bench players,” the ref wrote. “At that time, I called the game and walked off.”