After crowd skirmish, Foss gets second chance to host 'Senior Night' basketball game

TACOMA, Wash. - Keshawn Lewis thought he'd lost for good what he waited four years for with Foss High School basketball.

Senior night.

The Falcons' co-captain is part of the team's senior-heavy lineup who brought out a large troop of family members last Tuesday for the team's final scheduled home game against Washington.

But after a fight broke out in the grandstands just behind the Foss bench, the game was called off midway through the first quarter.

"Sadly, it ended quickly," Lewis said,

But on Monday, Foss was able to get back on the court and play a rescheduled game with the Patriots - even if it came without all the bells and whistles of the usual 'Senior Night.'

Playoff-bound Foss won, 79-37, to end the regular season at 17-4, and in second place in the 2A SPSL.

"It sucks they didn't get to play in front of the people who came out for the original 'Senior Night," Falcons boys coach Josh Barsh said. "It was packed in here that night - the most people I had seen since I started coaching here."

Last Tuesday was a night Barsh had been looking forward to as well.

He has six contributing seniors on the roster who have built this successful season together.

The grandstands were full. A couple of players even had family come in from out of town for 'Senior Night' festivities.

"We are senior stacked," Lewis said, "so I knew it was going to be a good night."

Barsh and a spectator, who spoke on the condition of remaining anonymous, both said two unidentified adults entered the gymnasium with their faces covered and hoods over their heads midway through the first quarter - and ran up into the stands to start a physical altercation with a fan.

Barsh said he wasn't aware of the commotion until a couple of his players on the bench started talking about it.

"It was right behind our bench," Barsh said, "so I went up there and separated the kids."

Security and school administration eventually led the two assailants out of the gymnasium as order was restored.

"I was very confused," Lewis said. "I didn't know what was going on up there."

After a 10-minute delay, teams were told to go through brief warm-ups before a restart of the game, Barsh said.

It was then the three-person officiating crew decided to end the game - with it tied 4-4 with 4:35 to go in the first quarter.

"They told their assigner they met with security and game management before making the call (to end the game)," said Todd Stordahl, the commissioner of the Washington Officials Association.

Barsh protested the officials' decision, to no avail - and admitted he was "angry for his kids" in the days afterward.

But on Thursday, Barsh was notified that the game was allowed to be rescheduled for Monday (with extra security on campus) - a second chance for his players to have a 'Senior Night.'

"It was fun, because I got to play with my brothers," Lewis said, "and finish it out right."

(Featured file photo by Cordell Stout/Shot by Stout)