Seven people have been arrested after a fight broke out in the stands of a basketball game between Meadville and Uniontown high schools on March 7, according to Meadville City Police.
The game, held in Meadville, was halted with 3 minutes, 12 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter when a fight in the stands spilled onto the court. Both teams forfeited the game, and neither moved on in the PIAA boys basketball playoffs.
Meadville police officers arrested Reginald Grooms, 44, of Uniontown; Notorious Grooms, 18, of Uniontown; Malik Wilson, 25, of Meadville; Joseph Chabot, 37, of Meadville; and three 16-year-olds who were not named. Police said two were from Meadville and the other was from Uniontown. Police originally said all three were from Meadville.
Notorious Grooms, who is a member of the Uniontown basketball team, Wilson, Chabot and two of the juveniles are charged with disorderly conduct. Reginald Grooms and the third juvenile are charged with simple assault, harassment and disorderly conduct.
Crawford Central School District staff assisted police during the incident, police said.
“We would also like to thank the large majority of players and spectators that acted responsibly during this incident,” Chief Michael Stefanucci said in a statement.
Each school must fulfill a list of requirements imposed Monday by the PIAA or else its boys basketball team will be barred from next season’s state playoffs.
• Each school must submit a plan of action “detailing what processes are in place to prevent situations like this from occurring in the future.” The deadline is March 19.
• All players and coaches on the current roster must complete educational courses related to sportsmanship.
• The spectators “whose identities are known to school administration” must be banned from attendance at school-sponsored activities until June 15, 2026.
The PIAA also reprimanded each school for violating PIAA bylaws by “not addressing the unsportsmanlike behavior” of their spectators.
The Uniontown-Meadville winner was scheduled to face District 3 champion Hershey (22-3) in a second-round game Tuesday. Hershey instead received a bye.
Uniontown (22-5) was the fifth seed from the WPIAL. Meadville (16-9) was the District 10 champion.
Meadville led 63-55 when the game was halted.
