A bench-clearing melee erupted with two minutes to go in Warren County High School's boys basketball game Friday night in Spencer with the Pioneers walking off the court and forfeiting the game.
The Pioneers were down by 5 in overtime after being handed a pair of technical fouls. Tempers were already flaring after a Van Buren County player had his head busted open during hard-fought action and bled all over the court a few minutes earlier.
Players and coaches had to be separated and the end result was WCHS coach Malcolm Montgomery pulled the Pioneers from the floor with two minutes left. The team did not return.
There was talk a racial slur was directed at coach Montgomery which could have triggered the incident but it is unclear exactly what, if anything, was said.
The end result is an ugly loss for the Pioneers and a black eye for the Pioneer basketball program.