An incident during the first half of Friday night's high school boys' basketball game between Cleveland and Soddy-Daisy has resulted in one Blue Raiders player being suspended and a fine forthcoming for Soddy-Daisy.
With just seconds remaining before halftime, Cleveland junior JaShawn Hill and a Soddy-Daisy player tangled for a loose ball. Hill punched the Soddy-Daisy player in the face, causing him to bleed profusely as he was taken from the gym to the locker room at Cleveland Middle School, where the game was being played.
According to game administrators, the father of the Trojans player who was struck in the face ran onto the court to confront Cleveland players, pushing Cleveland principal Autumn O'Brien aside on his way. The parent was stopped by Cleveland administrators, but according to TSSAA bylaws when a fan of one team comes onto the court during an altercation it's an automatic $500 fine for that school.
Also according to TSSAA bylaws, an athlete who throws a punch during competition is automatically ejected and suspended for two additional games.
Cleveland athletic director Eric Phillips would not comment on the possibility of further discipline for Hill. Cleveland administrators have sent video of the entire incident to Soddy-Daisy High as well as the TSSAA. Attempts to reach Soddy-Daisy principal Danny Gilbert for comment were not successful.
"I spoke with the Cleveland principal last night and one of our other directors spoke with their AD to get as much information as we could," said TSSAA executive director Bernard Childress. "Soddy-Daisy High School will be fined for having a fan come onto the court during an altercation.
"We were told the only other adults on the court were administrators, but we'll look at the video and read the officials' report on Monday to determine what other steps we may take. If there were additional punches thrown or anyone other than administrators on the court, we could ban one or both teams from the postseason."
Following the incident, the court was cleared and the teams remained in their separate locker rooms for more than 20 minutes to allow tempers to calm and additional security to arrive before the game resumed.
"One of our players lost his composure and took a swing," Phillips said. "That's the unfortunate part of an intense game. But our other athletes, and the Soddy-Daisy players, kept their composure and were able to finish the second half without incident."
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293. Follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis.