Girls basketball brawl mars Skylar Diggins’ prep jersey retirement party
It's not easy to turn Skylar Diggins' jersey retirement into a sidebar at a prep girls hoop game, but a punch thrown by a player for the WNBA star's alma mater did just that.
Diggins, a First Team All-American at Notre Dame and the No. 3 overall pick in the 2013 WNBA draft, watched from the stands as South Bend (Ind.) Washington High's Breonda Green struck Hamlet (Ind.) Oregon-Davis High's Lexi Minix, according to the South Bend Tribune.
Video of the incident, obtained by WSBT-TV, shows Minix push Green aside after a late-game whistle, and Washington's junior guard retaliated with a blow to the face. Minix was evaluated for concussion symptoms and missed the rest of the game, per the Tribune.
The head coaches from both sides also reportedly engaged in an argument on the floor immediately following Saturday's incident. Oregon-Davis head coach Terry Minix is Lexi's father, and Washington head coach Maurice Scott is Diggins' stepfather.
“I was trying to talk to coach (Terry Minix) when the assistant coach starts going nuts,” Scott told WSBT-TV. “I said, ‘We’re coaches. We’ve got to control this.’ (The assistant) got aggressive. That’s when the crowd went nuts.”
Police and school officials had to step in to keep the crowd from joining the chaos, according to the reports. Washington defeated Minix-less Oregon-Davis, 84-79. The school has already announced a one-game suspension for Green, although the state's high school athletics governing body may dole out further punishment.
Meanwhile, rumors reportedly began to spread across social media that Diggins, whose No. 4 jersey was retired prior to the game, was verbally involved in this fracas and ejected from the premises, but Scott told the South Bend Tribune that such accusations are unfounded. "We had her escorted out of the gym after the game was over to protect her," he told the paper, adding that this is common practice because of her popularity.
Still, former Oregon-Davis star Kelsey Minix, Lexi's cousin, exchanged Twitter barbs with Diggins in the game's aftermath. While O-D superintendent Greg Biles told WSBT-TV that he demanded a stop to the social media commentary, Diggins got the last word.
I stick up for my family at ALL times.....UNAPOLOGETICALLY!
— Skylar Diggins (@SkyDigg4) December 29, 2013
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