News

Actions

Video shows high school basketball player throwing ball at opponent’s face

Posted at 2:36 PM, Feb 14, 2017
and last updated 2017-02-14 14:36:54-05

ALLEN, Okla. -- A small Oklahoma town is in the spotlight after an incident at a high school basketball game, according to KFOR.

In the video, an Allen High School player can be seen throwing a ball at a player from Vanoss High from a just a few feet away.

The ball hits the player in the face and he falls to the ground. Afterwards, the teen who threw the ball walks off before being handed the ball again. The game then appears to continue.

Across Facebook, thousands of comments flooded in. Many people called for disciplinary action for the teen who threw the ball.

The athletic director for Vanoss declined to talk to us on camera but did hand us a statement from the district.

The statement said, in part:

“In no way do we feel the behavior of the Allen student/athlete is representative of Allen athletics, student body, coaches, teachers, administration or fans.”

Officials with Allen Public Schools declined to comment, but the district did issue a statement:

“This was an unfortunate incident in the midst of a hard-fought game. The players directly involved met and shook hands after the game with no further incident. While no violation or warning was called by the referee on the scene at the time, the matter is being reviewed and dealt with at the team level.”

A representative with the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association said it is aware of the situation and has been in contact with both districts. However, the representative said the incident is being handled at the district level because the OSSAA doesn’t regulate regular season games.

A family member of the teen who was hit with the ball said he is okay.