Brawl between West Hoke and Ellerbe Middle leaves two injured

ELLERBE — A post-game brawl between the West Hoke and Ellerbe Middle girl’s basketball team on Jan. 31 remains under investigation.

Ellerbe Middle coach Nellie Harrington and a player were injured following the incident.

“Both school districts are aware of the issue and have been in communication with one another to address concerns,” said Richmond County Schools in a statement.

Superintendent Dr. Joe Ferrell said that he plans to review the security camera with Hoke County Superintendent Dr. Kenneth Spells soon.

“From what I understand, the ADs (athletic directors) might have made some consequence decisions already,” Dr. Ferrell said, adding that the superintendent’s review will finalize any decisions. The incident was not discussed during the February Board of Education meeting, although Dr. Ferrell said it was brought up during the closed session portion of the meeting.

“Our issue is that Hoke County has dropped the ball. Hoke County has done nothing,” said Heather Pack, the parent of an EMS basketball player. “It’s like they showed no remorse at all. It was traumatic — that’s something you see on the TV in Charlotte, you do not see it in Richmond County, as young as a middle school ball game.”

Hoke County Schools has not responded to multiple phone calls for comment. It does not appear that any sort of statement has been issued by Hoke County Schools regarding the incident.

Pack said that during the game there was a lot of harsh profanity by West Hoke directed at the Ellerbe Middle girls. Pack said that despite a 20-point lead, WHMS continued to press very hard at the end of the game.

During the post game handshake, according to Pack, a WHMS player hit an EMS player. Pack then stated that many other WHMS team members joined in the fight, including a cheerleader and a boy from the bleachers. “It was never really one-on-one,” according to Pack.

Harrington was unable to get access to a wheelchair to leave the building and the EMS player was concussed, according to Pack.

A public Facebook post by Teresa Hailey Mason, that tags RCS board member Daryl Mason, recounts the incident in full detail. It has garnered close to 200 likes and 57 comments.

“…This situation right here has disturbed me to my core!” reads the post. “I have been around basketball pretty much all of my life. I have coached for nearly 32 years. I have seen a lot on the court, in the stands and even in the parking lot, but NEVER have I known any team to win a game, start a fight, knock down the opposing coach, dog pile a player, repeatedly beat and stomp her with the help of the cheerleaders and fans from the stands, leave the court celebrating and carry that same energy into the locker room.”

The post by Mason states that there was very little concern for the safety of Ellerbe players following the fracas. According to the Facebook post and statements by Pack, it appears that no one from the West Hoke team was suspended for a game the following day. This detail could not be confirmed by either school system.

“If you know a district or school administrator, athletic director or coach from any of these schools, please encourage them to rally together to make sure this never happens again,” concludes the post by Teresa Mason. “At the very least, no one should go to West Hoke to play for the remainder of this season. They should be denied the privilege of playing in the tournament or the championship game.”

While video of the most-recent incident has not been made public, a video was shared on Facebook of another sports-related disturbance last year between the Rockingham Middle and West Hoke girls’ basketball team during a championship game. That video has since been marked private.