Brawl Breaks Out At Tulsa High School Girls Basketball Game

A brawl broke out on the court after a girls’ basketball game in Tulsa Tuesday night. It happened after Ponca City made a comeback and beat East Central by two points.

The broadcaster at the game said it was not a dirty game. He said things took a bad turn when the coaches got into it on the sidelines with just seconds left on the clock.

Things got out of control very quickly after Tuesday night's game between East Central and Ponca City. Broadcaster Jordan Woodruff said what started as a clean, well-played game took a sharp turn at the end.

"Ponca made a comeback, so everything kind of got emotional. And at the end, those emotions seemed to spill over through the coaches, through the players," said Jordan Woodruff with Triple Play Sports Radio.

In his broadcast, Woodruff said East Central Coach Gary Pitts exchanged words with Ponca City Coach Jody Fincher.

"You kind of, in a way, knew it was coming," he said. "I hope it's a once in a lifetime, that I never have to see anything like that again."

After the buzzer, and a very close win for Ponca City, things escalated.

"The bad thing about it was, it took away from what was a great basketball game," Woodruff said.

Woodruff says parents entered the scuffle, too--and while there were some instigators on the floor--some were just trying to break up the fight.

"You're just calling things as you see it. There's so much going on, naturally, you can't tell it all … you kind of knew right away this was going to be a newsworthy event," Woodruff said.

He said he's hesitant to lay blame on any one party, but he hopes a lesson has been learned on both sides.

Both schools released statements saying that kind of behavior will not be tolerated on or off the court. The districts are working with the OSSAA to figure out what action will be taken from here.