Two separate disputes at the Portland Expo Thursday night ended a boys high school basketball game with less than 90 seconds on the clock.
The rivalry game between Portland and Deering ended in a 60-41 victory for Portland High School. While two Portland police officers were already working the game, more officers responded to the center after a physical fight broke out on the visitors’ side of the court. After another dispute, referees called off the game.
No one was injured or arrested, according to Portland police.
Portland Superintendent Ryan Scallon said the first fight started when a student from out of town “physically confronted” a Portland student, which paused the game about halfway through the third quarter.
Joseph Russo, who coaches the Portland team, said he heard a rumbling in the stands before turning around to see about four people jumping and pushing each other in the aisle. Referees blew the whistle and both teams went to the locker room for about 20 minutes while police sorted out the fight, he said.
With 1:21 left, Russo said he heard yelling between two people in the stands behind him. Police responded quickly, he said, and referees decided to end the game. Scallon said the argument stemmed from two parents who were involved in the previous fight.
“Both disruptions were caused and initiated by individuals that visited the game from out of town and were not from Deering or Portland, and it’s really unfortunate to have that disrupt what should be a great celebration of high school basketball,” Scallon said in a phone interview Thursday night.
A spokesperson for the Portland Police Department would not clarify how many additional officers were called to the scene or what started the arguments.
Russo said he’s proud that all players and fans stayed calm and focused on the game, undeterred by the disturbances.
Despite the longstanding basketball rivalry, Scallon said he’d never heard of fights like this interrupting a game. He said he plans to ask the city and Portland police to review security around games at the Expo.
“We’ll do our own investigation to see if there’s any tentacles that touch Portland Public Schools, and certainly if there are, we’ll make sure that we respond to that in a way that ensures that we’re putting in place measures to keep people safe,” Scallon said. “But as of right now, it doesn’t appear so.”
Staff Writers Daniel Kool and Michael Hoffer contributed to this reporting.
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The Washington high school boys basketball season is at the end of its eighth week, and High School On SI has scores for every team and classification. Here
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