Girls Hoops: Fight Breaks Out During Panthers Win

A tense contest turned violent as a fight broke out in the final minutes of the girls basketball game between the Franklin Panthers and Lincoln Tigers on Wednesday night.

What started as jawing between players during an injury time out turned into shoving and then a full-blown bench-clearing melee with punches thrown. Students came down from the stands but were quickly instructed to sit down while the players were separated on the court.

Play was halted for more than 15 minutes while coaches, referees and Franklin school officials sorted out the situation. Things remained tense as Lincoln coach Huff Rourke could be heard shouting, “I don’t trust you!” to the referees. Play eventually resumed and the final minutes ticked off uneventfully with Franklin winning 62-49.

The evening started with Franklin taking an early lead. Though Lincoln had a size advantage, it was the combination of junior guard Rena Tomihara and senior forward Cindy Reyes that kept Franklin in control of the first half. The two found each other open for numerous transition scores and would constantly attack the basket in the half-court.

“We’re primarily a transition team,” Panther coach Cressida Mia Guanlao said.

Both Tomihara and Reyes would score in double figures, but it was outside shooter Lorraine Lopez who had the hot hand, scoring 15 of her game-high 22 points in the first half. Franklin would turn a 10 point first quarter lead into a 32-14 advantage at halftime.

But the third quarter almost immediately saw a change in momentum as Lincoln players became more aggressive. Cross court passes for easy transition baskets caught Franklin players flat footed, and larger Lincoln players began to assert themselves more down low.

Lincoln forward Desree Delago could be seen leading the charge on every run up the court. Lincoln would score 23 points in the third quarter, 13 of them belonging to Delago, to cut the 18-point deficit in half.

“We came out more confident than we should have been,” said Reyes. “It threw us off.”

The beginning of the fourth quarter saw things get worse for Franklin. Lincoln players were now simply taking the ball out of the Panthers’ hands. Delago was driving to the basket un-challenged, and Tomihara’s shooting went ice cold, even on layups. The lead now was whittled down to just four.

“[Tomihara] has an ankle injury,” Guanlao said. “The first half it was feeling well, but then it started to stiffen up.”

But Franklin would not be denied. Reyes and Lopez pulled the Panthers back up over a 10-point lead with the game winding down. That’s when junior center Raquel Dumas went down to the floor with what appeared to be a sprained ankle. With the attention of coaches and refs focused on Dumas, the fight broke out in front of the Franklin bench.

Neither coach would admit to why the fight started, but both were quick to criticize the referees whom they felt were allowing too much physical play.

“They let things get out of hand [on the court],” Rourke said, “and this is what happens.”

“The referees didn’t do a good job controlling the game and the incident,” said Gualao.

Franklin's Jenn Pina and a player from Lincoln were ejected for their role in the fight.

“I’m still a little mad,” said Reyes, “but you have to control yourself and not rush onto the court like players did.”

With the win, Franklin (5-5) snaps a three-game losing streak. The Panthers sit right in the middle of Northern league standings. Next up for the Panthers on Friday is Roybal. The Panthers decimated the Titans 57-18 earlier this month.