Suspended Bellport-Hills West game ends in empty gym

Gym closed. Game on.

That was the situation Tuesday as Half Hollow Hills West hosted Bellport in the resumption of a boys basketball game suspended late in the third quarter Monday, when two parents ran onto the court after contact between their son and a Bellport player.

After that, fans left the bleachers and moved toward the court but were kept at bay. In all the commotion, players on both benches stepped onto the court.

"There were no punches thrown. The police weren't called. No one else got onto the court," Hills West athletic director Joe Pennacchio said.

Although eyewitness accounts differed on whether the contact between the two players Monday was deliberate or accidental, it indirectly resulted in the suspension of the 14 players who left the bench. No foul was called on the play.

No spectators were allowed into the gym Tuesday, and only school officials, scorers, timekeepers and a Newsday reporter watched the conclusion of the League IV game. Hills West, which led 52-33 with 1:59 left in the third quarter when play was halted, won, 84-56, as Tobias Harris scored 36 points for the Colts, including 16 Tuesday.

"You can't tolerate parents on the court," Section XI executive director Ed Cinelli said. "The referees made the decision to stop the game because of fan interference. They cleared the gym."

Officials from both schools bemoaned the circumstances that resulted in the suspensions. Eight players from Hills West and six for Bellport did not play Tuesday and will miss each team's regular-season finale Thursday.

"It's a rule that's been on the books for years," Cinelli said. "When you leave the bench, you are suspended for the remainder of the game plus the next game."

"We did nothing wrong in this instance and now we have to play shorthanded in a game that could have seeding implications. I think it's unfair," Bellport athletic director John Frankie said. "During the course of a game, there are inadvertent elbows. That's what happened. No foul was called."

The Deer Park game is also the Clippers' home finale and the traditional senior night, with a pregame ceremony and some playing time for non-starting seniors. "They'll miss out on that," Frankie said. "All they did was get out of their seats and walk a few steps onto the court when the fans started to move toward the bench."

Hills West's senior reserves also were affected by the suspensions. A couple of them started and played for several minutes Monday. "They were supposed to go back in the game at the end," Pennacchio said. "That opportunity was lost. That's the sad piece in all this."

Pennacchio praised Frankie for helping Hills West security personnel with crowd control as the incident unfolded. "John was in the bleachers and jumped right onto the court and made sure the fans stayed back," he said.

And none got into the gym Tuesday, creating an odd scene. The place was packed and noisy Monday night, but eerily empty and silent Tuesday. Bellport had only five players and Hills West only six. (One of Hills West's players was ill Monday and missed the game.)

"This is a first for me," Pennacchio said of playing a varsity game in an empty arena.