A high school basketball player is facing felony charges for knocking out an opponent after a game, according to police. The Iowa teen was charged with causing willful or serious injury after hitting a player from the Nevada Community School’s varsity team.
Player Attacked ‘Without Provocation’
According to a statement from the Carlisle Police Department, the 17-year-old struck his opponent “without provocation” after the two teams played a game against each other at Carlisle Community School. After the Carlisle High School team lost, 72-47, to the visiting Nevada High School players, the attacker struck the victim while the teams were in the postgame handshake line.
Some students who attended the game claimed that the two players “traded insults during the game.” After the Carlisle player struck the victim, a Nevada team member jumped on top of him, leading the rest of the basketball players on both teams to try and break up the fight.
The victim was knocked unconscious by the blow, sustaining injuries to the mouth. He immediately received medical attention. In a criminal complaint filed later, the victim also had a concussion and had to get four stitches for the injury to his lip.
School Officials Say Behavior is ‘Not Representative’ Of Their Community
Tom Keating, the executive director of the Iowa High School Athletic Association, said, “You just don’t expect to see that. You may expect to see something during the heat of competition. But when the contest is over and people are just walking through the line, your antenna is not up that something bad can happen here.”
Bryce Amos, the Carlisle School Superintendent, said in a statement that the altercation that occurred “is not representative” of the culture that exists in Carlisle schools, nor is it tolerated.
The player also faced condemnation from the Iowa High School Athletic Association, who said, “Violent conduct has no place in Iowa high school activities. IHSAA administrators are working with involved schools to ensure appropriate guidelines are followed for violent behaviors from student-athletes, and that appropriate action is taken at the local level.” They also mentioned other episodes of “violent conduct” that had taken place earlier in the 2021-22 youth basketball season.
The suspect, who played on the Carlisle Community School team, was arrested by Carlisle police and booked into Warren County Jail. It’s unconfirmed if the player has been suspended or kicked off the school’s basketball team. Keating has not revealed what action was taken, but says the IHSAA is satisfied with the punishment given by the school. “You saw the incident and I think when people see the incident and they get an idea of what probably should happen, my guess is the consequences would be severe,” he shared.
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