And So We Enter The Punitive Phase of The Alabama High School Brawl Saga

The first round of sanctions have come down following the big Alabama high school basketball melee, with the announcement late Wednesday that both Carver-Montgomery and Valley would be removed from the state tournament.

A double forfeit, which is really no surprise, because this was a huge mess. Both teams were put on restrictive probation, which means that they can only play in the regular season. So Talladega High will advance to the AHSAA Class 5A Final 4 next week in Birimingham, and will draw a bye for its first game due to Carver-Montgomery being kicked out.

But this is only the beginning, evidently.

"The probationary period is on-going at this time," AHSAA Executive Director Steve Savarese said. "We will not reach a conclusion on the probationary period until all the facts are in. But they will be on probation for a while."

No ejections, fines or suspensions were discussed. The punishment is only for boys basketball programs at each school. "There will be additional assessments," Savarese said. "But right now we had to deal with the immediate."

Yeah, it's going to take a while for officials, and police, probably, to sift through this video. Somehow I get the feeling that the many combatants chose not do as the signs suggested and "think pink."

There were 11 students detained by police following the brawl, which occurred at Alabama State's Acadome, and all have been arrested. Charges filed by Alabama State include "assault, criminal mischief, disorderly conduct, failure to disperse and inciting a riot."

At the time the fight erupted, Carver-Montgomery held a 52-37 lead with 6:23 left in the game.

Of course all of this will be recounted in a Randy Newman song sometime in the near future.

AHSAA Rules Carver-Montgomery And Valley Are Out Of State Tournament; Talladega In Final Four [Alabama Live] Carver, Valley Placed On Restrictive Probation [AHSAA]