Feb 29, 2008 6:58 pm US/Central
Unruly High School Basketball Fan Gets Tackled
PRIOR LAKE, Minn. (WCCO) ―
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"Be positive, be mature enough to cheer a good play either way, and leave the officials and the other team alone," said Janke.
CBS
An unruly fan at a high school basketball game got a rough reprimand for an incident that happened on Tuesday night. It was captured on tape and posted on YouTube.
It shows a student from Prior Lake High school on the court in the middle of a game when the Shakopee athletic director uses a no nonsense approach to get him off -- he tackles him.
Both schools used this incident to teach students a lesson about sportsmanship.
"It was a situation where we just reacted and I don't know if I would do it any differently if it happened today," said Shakopee athletic director John Janke.
Shakopee athletic director John Janke wanted to downplay the unusual disruption of last Tuesday's basketball game against arch rival Prior Lake.
"My first thought was 'we need to get this situation under control as quickly as possible so that it doesn't escalate,'" he said.
It was home court advantage for Shakopee in the last few minutes of a close game.
"So of course we're chanting back and forth different cheers, like they say 'Lets go Shako' we say 'Lets go Lakers,'" said Prior Lake cheerleader Abby Garlie
Then one Prior Lake senior turned cheers into unsportsmanlike conduct.
"Shakopee went to shoot a free throw and one of our students that was in the crowd ran out to get the ball," said Garlie.
"He just wanted to make a memory and just thought it would be funny," said Prior Lake cheerleader Ashley Beuch."
For some Prior Lake students he hit the mark.
"It was hilarious. It's something that's gonna go down in Prior Lake-Shako history," said Garlie.
"I thought it was really funny, but I thought it was very rude because it interrupted the game," said Beuch.
At the same time the boy ran out on the court, someone else in the Prior Lake stands started throwing eggs.
Shakopee players, fans and athletic directors from both schools aren't laughing.
"It was absolutely disgusting behavior. Our student body was shocked, our basketball team was embarrassed, our parents were embarrassed, I was embarrassed," said Prior Lake High School Athletic Director Mary Haugen.
Schools administrators hoped to turn this negative incident into a positive message of what competition is really all about.
"Be positive, be mature enough to cheer a good play either way, and leave the officials and the other team alone," said Janke.
The students responsible for disrupting the game were disciplined, but school administrators wouldn't say what the punishment is.
They may also be charged with disturbing the peace, which is a misdemeanor.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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