CIF announces preliminary findings from Inderkum-Riordan high school basketball brawl
California Interscholastic Federation officials have announced preliminary findings amid the fallout from a brawl that halted a CIF Northern California regional boys basketball game Thursday in San Francisco.
Referees stopped a Division I quarterfinal contest between host Archbishop Riordan and Inderkum of Sacramento when a fight broke out with 1:15 remaining and Riordan leading 61-52.
In a statement issued Friday by the CIF office in Sacramento, the governing body for high school sports in California declared Riordan the winner of the game. The Crusaders will be allowed to continue their quest for a state championship, but they will not be permitted to host their semifinal game against Granada and could face player suspensions.
After reviewing game footage and the officials’ game report, the CIF ruled:
• The result of the game, 61-52 Archbishop Riordan, is final.
• Eligible players from Archbishop Riordan will advance to the March 4 Division I NorCal boys basketball semifinal against Granada High School.
• Granada High School will host the March 4 Division I NorCal boys basketball semifinal.
• The CIF state office, Central Coast Section and Sac-Joaquin Section offices are continuing to work with Inderkum and Archbishop Riordan administrations regarding student-athlete game suspensions.
• The CIF state office, Central Coast Section and Sac-Joaquin Section offices are working cooperatively on additional sanctions that may be levied on both member schools due to the serious nature of this unsportsmanlike conduct.
The brawl marred what had been an intense, sometimes chippy game, reducing it to exactly the sort of scene the CIF has tried for decades to prevent with player emotions boiling over to the point of punches and all manner of chaos. After reviewing game footage from the NFHS Network and reports from referees, the CIF announced ninth-seeded Granada will host Riordan on Saturday, although Riordan is the higher seed at No. 4 and would otherwise have hosted the game.
Moving the game is, in effect, a form of punishment against Riordan, a move the CIF has used before in response to fights or unruly fan behavior. The CIF said it had no further comment at this time and did not disclose which Riordan players would be suspended for the semifinal game against Granada.
Coaches and administrators from Inderkum and Riordan did not respond to requests for comment from The Sacramento Bee. The Natomas Unified School District, of which Inderkum is a member, issued a statement, saying: “We are disappointed that a positive season ended as it did. Our staff will always work with our students to learn from their experience — when they are positive or like last night, where at the end of the game actions were not acceptable.”
Inderkum was the first Sacramento-area team to play a NorCal boys playoff game at Riordan since Kennedy High of Greenhaven in 1990. The fight Thursday started after Inderkum’s Savion Daniels fouled Riordan’s Joey Rencher in an attempt to stop the clock with Riordan leading by nine. Daniels wrapped his arms around Rencher and Riordan’s Achilles Woodson reacted by racing over and shoving Inderkum’s Kevin Boone-Nelson in the back.
The Inderkum bench immediately cleared with some players trying to prevent fighting and others engaging in it. The Riordan bench also cleared, a violation of CIF sportsmanship rules, although Riordan coaches and staffers were able to prevent their players from reaching the melee.
Woodson was struck by an Inderkum player in the fray and was laid out on the floor for several moments while coaches, staffers and referees scrambled to defuse the situation. Woodson was later taken to a local hospital.
Riordan coach Joey Curtin told SBLive Sports that Woodson was “OK.” Curtin went on to say the fight was “awful ... horrible ... pathetic.”
“It just shouldn’t have happened,” Curtin said. “We were playing great basketball and for it to end like that ... horrible.”
This story was originally published March 3, 2023 at 3:43 PM.