During the Class 1A division one semi-final between Hanover and Centralia on Saturday (AEDT) in Hays, Kansas, the third quarter was marred by an ugly incident that sent the crowd into raptures and left one star face down on the court.
Hanover player Thomas Atkins should have been celebrating after his breakaway for an open court dunk but even though his play resulted in adding two points to the scoreboard, that was overshadowed by the horrible foul.
An unidentified Centralia player was tracking back in defence, following Atkins as he charged to the rim, but he was never going to catch the man with the ball.
When Atkins jumped up for his jam, his opponent pushed him in the back while he was in mid air. Without any hope of stabilising himself, Atkins went flying forwards and crashed into part of the structure holding the hoop up as the crowd went wild.
The offender turned his back and started walking in the opposite direction. Remarkably, he was not ejected — the incident was assessed only as a flagrant foul. Posted by Abdul