Basketball Team Attacks Ref in Amateur Tournament

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An Under-17 basketball game devolved into a brawl when players attacked a referee during the semifinals of The Association tournament at the Lake Point Sports Complex in Emerson, Georgia. 

According to Yahoo Sports, the Houston Raptors had pinned Chicagoā€™s Raw Athletics to a double-digit deficit during a semifinals game on Sunday. The Raptorsā€™ coach, Bobby Benjamin, sensed the Athleticsā€™ frustration and had already instructed his team to skip shaking hands at the end of the game, as he was worried a fight might erupt.

ā€œTheir players started fighting amongst each other and they were arguing with their coach,ā€ Benjamin told Yahoo Sports. ā€œThatā€™s when I knew it was about to get bad. I figured if theyā€™re going to fight with each other, they might be willing to fight anybody.ā€

Benjaminā€™s intuition proved accurate. In the final minutes of the game, an Athletics player shoulder-bumped a referee after a call, and when the referee responded by assessing the player with a technical, the player took a swing at the referee.

Things devolved from there, as Athletics players surrounded the ref and began punching him as he lay on the ground.

ā€œWhen I looked up, the kid was swinging at the ref,ā€ Benjamin said. ā€œAt that point I told my assistant coaches to get our kids on the other side of the court. I didnā€™t want them involved in that at all. If you watch the video, you will probably not see a single purple jersey. 

Raw Athletics coach Howard Martin didnā€™t return a request for comment, but in a now deleted tweet he blamed the referee for starting the fight. ā€œA ref actually walked up on one of our players and attacked him,ā€ Martin wrote in the tweet. ā€œEveryone tried to break it all up, then the refā€™s father (who was working a game on a different court) ran over to our court and rushed our guys..everyone in the gym, the other team and the directors saw everything.ā€

Raw Athletics forfeited its semifinal against the Houston Raptors, which didnā€™t matter much, as the Raptors had a comfortable lead heading into the final minute of the game.

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