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Officials Break Up Large Brawl At Clairton HS Basketball Game

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CLAIRTON (KDKA) -- A high school basketball game was cut short when a large brawl broke out Tuesday evening.

More than 300 tickets were sold to the Clairton-Monessen basketball game. Those there say it was tense and competitive, and then two players from the opposing teams threw punches.

The bleachers cleared out, fans spilled onto the court, and a brawl was underway.

Zachery Simmons, 24, who works as a sports videographer, was there and captured it all.

"Both sides were involved in the fight, you are not going to just pinpoint this on one side. Pepper spray came out, little kids were spitting up cause they were affected by the pepper spray. I could taste it last night," he said.

Clairton police would not comment on camera, but say the fight is under investigation. They say no one was injured, and so far there have been no arrests.

Attempts to reach the Monessen School District went unanswered, but Clairton district officials made this statement:

"We will be conducting an internal investigation, as well as cooperating with authorities and the WPIAL. We hope that this unfortunate situation can become a teachable moment, not just for the teams and schools, but for both communities.

Meanwhile, WPIAL says it has requested written statements from game officials, school administrators and both teams. All parties will meet with the WPIAL Monday afternoon.

"People are pointing a lot of fingers on both sides," Simmons said.

There is talk that both teams likely will face penalties from the WPIAL, many are hoping the teams will not be barred from the playoffs.

"I think both teams worked extremely hard this year. I do not feel these teams should be ejected from the playoffs. They both deserve to be in the playoffs," Simmons said.

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