Girl Arrested After Fight at High School Basketball Game

The North Lawndale and Marshall match-up had just concluded when a brawl moved from the stands to the court

A teen girl was arrested Wednesday night following an Illinois High School Association playoff basketball game, police said.

The North Lawndale and John Marshall Metropolitan high school match-up in the Class 3A sectional semifinal had just concluded when a brawl moved from the stands to the court, according to police and published reports.

"It was chaotic. Everybody went from corner to corner, fighting," said student Chileo Usher. "The whole gym was fighting. Everybody was fighting."

An official told Comcast SportsNet Chicago the brawl started during the postgame handshake when a player from Marshall struck a player from North Lawndale to start the incident.

 

The chaos of tonight's Chicago high school playoff basketball melee...

A video posted by South Side Public (@southsidepublic) on Mar 11, 2015 at 9:20pm PDT

Police were called to the basketball court inside Westinghouse High School, on the 3200 block of West Franklin Avenue, at about 8:45 p.m. The teen girl was arrested, charged, and later released to her family.

North Lawndale head coach Lewis Thorpe told CSN that his starting center, Kenneth Perkins, was punched in the face during the brawl. Other members of the team were also hurt, he said.

IHSA officials said they would investigate the fight. The organization's website lists the results of the Class 3A games and includes a notation of a fight after the game.

"We are saddened by the events after yesterday's basketball game," North Lawndale College Prep said in a statement. "We actively promote a culture of peace with our students in order to achieve our mission of successful completion of college. We are investigating to learn exactly what happened, and engaging with our students and community to use this as an opportunity to again teach that the only and best way to respond to violence is with nonviolence."

North Lawndale beat Marshall 70-62 in the contest and will face St. Joseph in the sectional final on Friday.

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