Malice At Meadville: A Tournament Game Turned Controversy
Written by: David Bray on March 9, 2025
Editor’s Note: I would like to add that I will be updating this article as I find out more about the events that will unfold.
It is currently 36 hours from the initial fight that took place on Friday night at Meadville High School, where the first round of PIAA 5A basketball took place between the WPIAL team Uniontown and the winner of District 10’s Meadville. The game from the very tip was chippy, with the fans and players showing unpleasant reactions to the calls from officials and increased competitiveness from the large deficit that Uniontown had clawed back from, moving within eight points with around three minutes remaining on the clock.
And then, everything that had been building came crumbling down faster than it had started.
After a whistle, a Uniontown player went down almost half the court and attempted to score the ball after the stoppage by the official. The official then called a technical on the player, giving Meadville a chance to extend their lead, which was rapidly closing. Yelling was heard behind the benches as free-throws were going to be attempted and all of a sudden, punches were thrown. A Uniontown fan wearing a #00 jersey was seen going after the Meadville fans and started a brawl, sparking up flares of emotions from players and fans alike. As we still await the truth behind the whole scenario, it seems that the fan walked over behind the scorers’ table, picked out a fan and started the situation. Police became involved and took out the fan, who abandoned the jersey, in handcuffs along with another member of the crowd involved. The officials ordered a clear out of the gym to potentially finish the game.
As a fan like myself watched the situation through X after the conclusion of the Hershey vs Penn-Trafford matchup, I was assuming that the game would be finished in an empty gym, so the game could be concluded, a winner determined, and a second round matchup picked for the Hershey Trojans. Unfortunately, the case could not be handled as simply as it sounded, as the officials had called the ending of the game at the 3 minute and 12 second mark, technically giving Meadville the victory over Unionville, which had been said by the PIAA in a post that evening. However, the post was later deleted, wiped off X forever, denying the victory in the situation and leaving fans, media, and everyone nationally confused about the situation.
The officials declared it a 63-55 Meadville victory at that point, as stated by the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.
Let’s break it down. A Uniontown fan, who was a parent of a Uniontown player, charged at Meadville fans, presumably Meadville family and friends, causing a large fight in which players of both teams entered the stands. I’ve seen various users on X pointing out that there is a one-game suspension if you leave the bench to enter the stands. I have two points on why none of the players should receive any punishment. As a former high school basketball player for Hershey, if my family was in the stands and the crossfire of a fight, there would be no doubt in my mind to go up and protect them. It is human nature. If there is a chance that I would be hurt by remaining on the bench, I would also get up and move to an area where I feel safe. It is also human nature. This is a situation between fans, rather than players.
The situation has escalated now to figuring out how to deal with the conclusion of the event. Is Meadville declared the winner? Do they play the final minutes to end the game? Are both teams disqualified? These questions are essential towards finding the right answer to the game, something fans and the PIAA board have to think about. From the Meadville Tribune, who asked the executive director of the PIAA, Dr. Robert Lombardi, in the aftermath of the event, stated that he contacted the schools regarding the situation and “I have no further comment until I receive these reports.”
There’s a problem here. As I have highlighted in my posts, Hershey has a tough case on their hands too. If the game is declared as a Meadville victory, a few things could happen: 1. Hershey will be given less than 24 hours to prepare for their matchup, giving an unfair disadvantage to the winner of District 3 and less of an opportunity to move on to the next round. 2. Meadville could have potentially some of their roster suspended for the game and have less time to prepare those who can play for the second round, giving another unfair situation for the winner of District 10. And 3. A neutral site will have to be picked up with a very short amount of time for preparation for a high-stakes event such as this one.
If Uniontown and Meadville are disqualified from the next round, there’s another set of problems, which include, Hershey getting a free pass into the next round, the schools of Meadville and Uniontown getting at the throats of the PIAA for a fan reaction rather than a player, and the ENTIRE group of 5A winners becoming extremely upset that Hershey would have the opportunity to walk into the next round, rather than facing an opponent like the rest of them.
The PIAA has an uphill battle, and it doesn’t seem like there are any winning scenarios. There’s drama on drama that will come from this and to be honest, if a decision was made sooner, we would have less of a shockwave effect on the upcoming decision. The footage from multiple angles is on the internet, also being linked below to reputable users who own the rights. From looking at the tape, a lot of fans online have agreed that first-round neutral sites might be the solution, however, fans being out of control can not give the 15-18 year old kids responsibility for their actions.
Meadville vs Uniontown Fight – Posted by Tom Reisenweber on X from the NFHS Broadcast
As the time continues ticking and with the decision by the PIAA coming out on Monday morning, given less than 30 hours until the second round tips off, we will see if the raging fire that had erupted Friday night will spill over into the upcoming days of state playoff basketball.
The decision has been made and posted by the PIAA to suspend both teams for their actions on Friday and rule the game as a forfeit, giving Hershey a bye and a spot in the quarterfinals against the winner of the West York and Peters Township game on Tuesday night. Both Unionville and Meadville will be barred from next year’s state tournament, unless they follow the guidelines specifically stated by the organization. The teams must have a “plan of action” submitted to the PIAA detailing what is needed to resolve a scenario like this in the future, all of the players and coaches must complete a sportsmanship module for submission, the fans who were detained and involved in the fights will be banned from basketball games until June 15, 2026, and each school will be reprimanded for not addressing the unsportsmanlike behavior of their spectators. As I have stated before, this will cause a ripple affect in the sports world for Pennsylvania, causing controversy in terms of the punishment received by the schools and by how the rest of the state tournament reacts to Hershey being pushed through into the next round without the same challenge of facing another team as the other 14 teams will. One of the Meadville players, Kellen Ball expressed his disappointment in the decision with his post Monday afternoon:
It is heartbreaking for the end of an era for the Uniontown and Meadville seniors, however, what’s been written has been written by the PIAA. The next round of tournament games will take place on March 11th, and Hershey will play their next tournament game on Friday at a neutral site.
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