By The Bulldog Inquirer Staff
On Thursday, February 2, the BISB boys varsity team took on International School of Boston (ISB) in a heated game. The two teams have always been rivals with each other. The game was played at ISB and the gym was filled with highly enthusiastic ISB fans, who were making incredible amounts of noise throughout the game. The game ended without a winner, as it was called off with 7 minutes remaining when an altercation involving ISB fans took place.
The game saw ISB get off to a very hot start. In the first quarter, they jumped out to a big lead after knocking down multiple three-pointers, going up 21-9, and forcing BISB to call a timeout to regroup. However, BISB was able to find its footing shortly after. Center Vikrant Sabharwal temporarily took command, scoring multiple straight points, to narrow the deficit and put BISB in striking distance, at a score of 25-17. However, ISB had some last-minute shots at the end of the first half to increase their lead.
In the second half of the game, ISB had a similar run to the one they had at the beginning of the game, leading the fans to become even more enthusiastic, as they continued screaming, shouting, and banging on drums. Vikrant described how he had trouble communicating with his own team, amid the noise.
Despite this, BISB began playing significantly better and came back into the game, cutting the lead to around single digits. They had an opportunity to win the game. However, at this point, with around 7 minutes remaining in the game, the altercation occurred. BISB guard Diego Duarte committed a normal foul, and in a completely unprovoked fashion, an ISB fan ran onto the court to attack BISB players, specifically Diego, shoving him hard. While defending his teammates in the fight, Vikrant got hit with a fierce punch in the face from the fan, escalating the situation dramatically. The referees and coaches came to break apart the players and all the ISB fans were escorted out of the gym.
Immediately following the fight, the referees and coaches convened at the middle of the court and decided it would be best to end the game right then and there; they believed it had become too dangerous. Thankfully, all the players from the ISB and BISB teams made it out without any major injuries. Athletic trainers were able to treat Vikrant’s wound immediately and prevent it from becoming very severe.
Both Coach Mike Carucci and Daniel Dean were proud of the way that the boys handled the situation.
“Before I could even arrive at the scene of the fight to help break it up, Vikrant and others were already walking away from the situation, despite getting punched,” Coach Dean said, “This was very responsible of them and shows their maturity. In the heat of the moment, it would be very easy for players to make immature decisions and make the fiasco even worse.”
Coach Carucci echoed a similar sentiment.
“I am proud that my players have each other’s backs. It was great to see Vikrant step up for Diego and his other teammates in that scenario.”
Reflecting on the situation, BISB players are very surprised by what happened. There has never been anything like this in any of the school’s past sporting events.
“It was a surreal experience,” forward Victor Delacroix said. “Just like the coaches are, I am proud that we demonstrated such great composure with someone as out of control as the ISB fan attacking us.”
Since the game, action has been taken to deal with the situation and prevent such incidents from occurring in the future. The violent fan has been suspended by ISB, after the school carefully considered an expulsion due to his past history of misconduct. BISB's Head of School, Mr. Richard Thornhill, had a phone call with ISB's Head of School to discuss and help resolve the situation. Additionally, Coach Dean, who is also BISB's Athletic Director,
had a meeting with other athletic directors and referees to discuss player and fan conduct in basketball games moving forward.
Looking to the future, the BISB basketball team is going to look to continue making progress and winning games this season. They have a big matchup against the Chapel Hill-Chauncey Hall School next Wednesday at 4 pm in the BISB gym.
Go Bulldogs!
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