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http://www.wsjm.com/Police-Called-When-Fig...uffalo/11734133

Andrew Green Reporting
An eighth grade basketball game between New Buffalo's Saint Mary of the Lake school and Michigan City's Saint Stan's school turned violent this week, and authorities had to be brought in. The New Buffalo Police Department says that around nine-30 PM Tuesday, officers were called out to Saint Mary of the Lake when a fight involving a large number of students broke out. It was wrapped up by the time police got there, but they're still investigating. Once they figure out who started the brawl, warrant requests will be sent to the Berrien County Prosecutor.

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http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/laporte...c14e30aee5.html

Fight among parents breaks out at girls basketball game

By Stan Maddux Times Correspondent | Posted: Thursday, December 15, 2011 6:00 pm | (2) Comments

NEW BUFFALO, Mich. | Police on Thursday were continuing to investigate a fight that broke out among parents at a girls basketball game in New Buffalo against a team from Michigan City.

During a game Tuesday night at St. Mary of the Lake School, police said a call was received about a large fight at the school gymnasium.

The eighth-grade Lady Lakers were hosting St. Stanislaus School from Michigan City, and the game was late in the fourth quarter when violence broke out.

Police on Thursday said no arrests had been made, and what started the fighting was still being investigated.

New Buffalo Police Chief Larry Pitchford said the case will be presented to the Berrien County prosecutor's office to consider possible charges after the aggressors are identified.

St. Mary of the Lake School Principal Kate Van Pelt said steps have already been taken to help prevent another violent fan flare-up.

Specifically, she said a new code of ethics is being developed and will be read before every sporting event.

"We are saddened at the events that occurred. We do not condone the behavior by the adult fans," Van Pelt said. "We are confident that we will be able to move forward and learn from his incident."

Read more: http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/laporte...l#ixzz1gi3CiUXx

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http://articles.southbendtribune.com/2011-...ght-large-fight

Fans fight at girls game in New Buffalo
Police chief: Case will go to prosecutor's office for possible charges.
December 15, 2011|STAN MADDUX | South Bend Tribune Correspondent

NEW BUFFALO — Police today were continuing to investigate a fight that broke out among parents at a girls basketball game in New Buffalo.

During a game Tuesday night at St. Mary of the Lake School, New Buffalo Police said they received a call about a large fight at the school gymnasium.

Responding officers were also told about reports of assaults and injuries resulting from the melee.

''It was a fans-gone-wild situation,'' said New Buffalo Police officer Mike Cluster.

The eighth-grade Lady Lakers were playing girls from St. Stanislaus School from Michigan City, and the game was late in the fourth quarter when fans began fighting.

Police said the fighting had already ended when they arrived.

No arrests had been made, police said today.

What started the fighting is still being investigated.

New Buffalo Police Chief Larry Pitchford said other police agencies also responded and talked to people who were fighting along with witnesses.

He said those interviews have to be reviewed as part of the evidence-gathering process, which requires additonal time.

Pitchford said the case will be presented to the Berrien County prosecutor's office to consider possible charges once the aggressors are identified.

''We do have one confirmed assault, but we're still working through interviews,'' Pitchford said.

Paramedics treated several people at the scene, and all of the injuries were believed to be ''very minor,'' police said.

Officers from Michigan State Police, Three Oaks, Chikaming Township and Pokagon Tribal Police also responded.

St. Mary of the Lake School Principal Kate Van Pelt said steps have already been taken to help prevent another violent fan flare-up.

Specifically, she said, a new code of ethics is being developed and will be read before every sporting event.

''We are saddened at the events that occurred. We do not condone the behavior by the adult fans. We are confident that we will be able to move forward and learn from his incident,'' Van Pelt said.
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http://thenewsdispatch.com/articles/2011/1...94482161495.txt

St. Stanislaus coach:2 women triggered ‘large fight’ at game

By Tim Moran
Staff Writer
Published: Sunday, December 18, 2011 4:09 PM CST
MICHIGAN CITY — Tuesday night’s “large fight” between fans of St. Mary of the Lake and St. Stanislaus Kostka eighth-grade girls basketball teams began as an argument between two female fans with about 10 seconds remaining in the game.

That’s according to Bob Johnson, a former Rogers High School player who now coaches the St. Stanislaus girls team. He said his team was leading 25-23 and St. Mary of the Lake, New Buffalo, Mich., had the ball with time winding down when the game clock mistakingly stopped.

“I yelled over to the scores table and said ‘start the clock, start the clock,’ but then the official gave me a technical (foul),” Johnson said, claiming he did not use profanity to warrant the technical. “I just wanted the clock to run down because we were ahead.”

So when a St. Mary of the Lake player headed to the free throw line to attempt to tie the score with a pair of shots, St. Stan fans “kicked bleachers and made a lot of noise,” Johnson said, to distract the shooter. Although commonplace during basketball games at all levels, especially during a technical foul situation, he continued, this angered many St. Mary parents.

“I don’t think they liked that too much,” Johnson said. “The girl missed the free throws, and that is when it all started.”

Johnson says after the second free throw rimmed out, an elderly woman supporting St. Mary of the Lake “grabbed and slapped” one of the St. Stanislaus mothers on the top row of the bleachers.

“The lady who was hit was in shock, but all of a sudden this big guy came from across the gym,” he said. “He looked like he was in a rage, then started to throw punches.”

At that point, Johnson says a girl who plays for St. Stan’s fourth-, fifth- and sixth-grade team was inadvertently “elbowed” in the stomach by the angry man. That’s when the father and brother of the girl “went after the big guy, and all heck broke loose,” Johnson said.

Although Johnson only saw those three throw punches, he said the players had to be pulled out of what turned into a group fight.

The game was called with five seconds to play, and so were the police.

It would have been St. Mary of the Lake’s possession down by two points.

While continuing to work with St. Stanislaus regarding a joint statement of the incident, St. Mary of the Lake Principal Kate Van Pelt and Athletic Director Paul Oselka, who also coaches the school’s eighth-grade girls team, released a combined statement regarding the event.

“We are confident that the ongoing police investigation will bring forth the true facts of what occurred and prefer to focus our attention on our students and on ensuring that such an incident does not happen again,” the statement read. “We are working together with the principal and the athletic director of St. Stanislaus School to continue our long-standing relationship of mutual respect and support.”

Berrien County Prosecutor Art Cotter said Friday afternoon his office has received no requests at this time from police for arrest warrants in the incident.

Sgt. Jason Grimmett of the New Buffalo Police Department said he is still “putting the pieces of the puzzle together” and will have a report issued shortly.

Of the incident, Johnson said it’s something he has “never seen anything like” as a player or a coach, and something like that “should never happen.”

In addition to the fans who resorted to physicality, Johnson places a bit of blame on the referees for “riling up” the St. Stan’s fans by not calling fouls against St. Mary players when they were warranted.

“The officiating led to the fans getting rowdier,” he said. “When they see our girls get roughed up and there is no call, it is frustrating.”

Johnson said his team did not get to the free throw line that night as no fouls were called against the Lakers, which appoints its own officials for home games.

St. Stanislaus, which does not have a home court, has played the New Buffalo school on a yearly basis in Michigan.

Despite Tuesday night’s incident, Johnson said he would schedule St. Mary of the Lake again, but not if the same officials are present.

“I’ll play them again, but if we walk into the gym and see the same referees, we will say thanks for wasting our gas and head back to Indiana,” he said.

The (St. Joseph, Mich.)Herald-Palladiumcontributed to this story.

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http://www.abc57.com/news/local/Big-brawl-...-135772818.html

NEW BUFFALO, Mich. -- Six different police departments got called in to break up a big brawl at St. Mary of the Lake Catholic School on Tuesday night.

The 8th grade Lady Lakers hosted the game against the Saints of St. Stanislaus in Michigan City, but in the last few seconds, the game turned into a full out brawl.

“It did get pretty ugly out there, yea,” referee Jack Kennedy officiated the game. He said on Friday, he did not realize tensions were so high in the gym that night.

The Saints had been up the entire game, the score wasn’t even close until the last minute of the 4th quarter. Kennedy said, “The game was basically over; it should have ended without any of this bologna.”

With just two seconds left in the game, the Lady Lakers were down by only two points but the Saints had the ball. “They had the ball coming down the floor,” but before the ball was passed in-bounds, Kennedy said the other referee, his partner called a technical foul on St. Stanislaus. The technical gave the Lady Lakers two free-throws, the ball and it could have meant the game.

“With that, all heck broke loose,” Kennedy said it was chaos in the gym. “I’ve been doing this 35 plus years, almost 37 now and I’ve never seen anything like this,” Kennedy said.

One man ran from the visitor side over to where the New Buffalo fans were, “I saw a crowd gather up near the top of the bleachers,” Kennedy said it looked like the man was going after another parent, but he wasn’t sure why.

“Then the next thing I know the gentleman who ran behind me was kind of rolling down the steps,” Kennedy said he wasn’t sure if that man fell, tripped, or was pushed from the top of the bleachers.

“I saw them up in the stands hollering, I tried to calm them down, but it was tough.” Then, Kennedy said another man ran into the gym from the hallway, as he charged the St. Mary’s bench full of 8th grade girls, he tore his Saints t-shirt off.

Kennedy said, “By the time he tore his shirt off it looked like he was ready to go to battle with somebody.”

That’s when 79-year-old Kennedy and the other referee took the man down. Kennedy said, “Just tackled him, came from behind and grabbed his legs.”

The two referees are used to keeping control on the court with the players, but this was much different, “We needed to do something at that point,” Kennedy said, “Do the best to get things under control so it didn’t get any worse.”

Other parents in the stands called police and Kennedy called the game. Sometime during the brawl Kennedy got injured, “I broke this finger, the little one and the left-hand and then I got cut up and down my arms.”

“It was just a very unfortunate tense situation and it went past where anybody would want it to go.” Sue Bryant, principal at St. Stanislaus said.

Bryant was not at the game but was notified of the incident later that night, she said she and the school are disappointed. “It hasn’t happened before and it’s definitely not something we want to happen again,” Bryant said.

The principal at St. Mary’s did not want to be interviewed, but did send ABC-57 a written statement, Kate VanPelt wrote the school is saddened by the fight and added, “We do not condone the behavior by the adult fans.”

Administrators from both schools met Friday morning to discuss what to do next, how to make sure nothing like this happnens again.

VanPelt wrote St. Mary’s is “Developing a new Code of Ethics that will be read before every sporting event. We are confident that we will be able to move forward and learn from this incident.”

No players or students were involved in the violence, the parents in the stands started and finished the brawl.

Other people in the gym at the time of the fight sustained minor injuries, but there were several reports of assault made.

The New Buffalo Police Department has not made any arrests in this case just yet, but the investigation is not over. On Friday officers said they are still talking with witnesses, it does not look like anyone has video of the fight but they are interviewing people who were there.

“Once it has been determined who the primary suspects are, warrants will be requested for those individuals,” Chief Larry Pitchford said.

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http://thenewsdispatch.com/articles/2011/1...09119329092.txt

We've gotta do better, folks

By Adam Parkhouse
Home Cookin'
Published: Monday, December 19, 2011 9:26 AM CST
I hope it’s not too late, but I feel we’re starting to lose our way as a society.

Maybe it’s lost or has been slipping away and I just haven’t noticed. I don’t mean to be so doom and gloom, but after hearing details for the last week about what happened at an eighth grade girls basketball game, I don’t know what else to think.

Perhaps you saw some of those details in stories this week in the N-D. If you didn’t, here’s the abbreviated version: During a game between St. Stan’s of Michigan City and Saint Mary of the Lake in New Buffalo, a fight broke out after the home timekeeper failed to start the clock in a timely manner, a coach was assessed a technical, fans tried to distract the free throw shooter and all hell broke loose from there.

That’s right, a fight. At a middle school basketball game. Because of a slow trigger on the game clock.

*
I’ve heard accounts from people this week who claim to have been there or knew others who were. To hear the descriptive words of this ridiculous incident make my stomach turn.

Let me tell a quick story. When I was in high school, I had a teacher who liked to tell stories of his own. One in particular centered around a conversation he had while at some teacher’s conference in another part of the state.

When another teacher found out my teacher worked in Michigan City, the question came: “How do you survive up there?”

My teacher was perplexed. What a silly question. So, he quipped: “I just keep an Uzi in my desk drawer.” He chuckled and removed himself from the conversation, but not before making sure this other person knew the reality of Michigan City doesn’t match the perception.

Since then, I’ve always taken note of how others perceive the town I’ve called home for my entire life. I’ve found that my teacher’s story pretty much holds up today.

Now, I’m not insinuating that it was people from Michigan City who started this fracas. There are two communities involved here and both are at fault.

That’s right, I said community. When something like this happens, it reflects poorly on all of us. If we all absorb the consequences, then that means we’re all responsible for preventing things like this from happening.

Obviously if you weren’t there, there’s nothing you could do to stop this particular brouhaha. But it starts everywhere else.

To put it simply, we just have to be better at, well, everything. We have to be better parents. We have to be better sons and daughters.

We have to be be better students. We have to be better teachers and administrators.

We have to be better employees. We have to be better bosses and supervisors.

When things like this happen, that means we’re not doing good enough. We’re not setting the right example. Physically striking another human being — especially at a middle school basketball game — is absolutely never OK.

The worst part about this is that it happened in front of kids. Young, impressionable children whose world views are still being formed. Their morals and ethics are still under construction.

You see, it’s all cyclical. Somewhere along the line, the people involved in this learned that it was OK to act like this. Now that unfortunate lesson is passed down to the next generation. Without intervention, it keeps getting passed down the line.

I’m not going to tell you that sports don’t matter.

Obviously, I’m of the belief that they do. But when something like this happens, we need to re-examine everything.

Mostly, we just need to do better.



Contact Sports Editor Adam Parkhouse at aparkhouse@thenewsdispatch.com or 874-7211, Ext. 461. Follow him on twitter @LPCSportsGuy.

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http://www.heraldpalladium.com/articles/20...ews/7773379.txt

AD: Poor officiating sparked fight at game between Catholic schools

Ruckus at 8th grade basketball game last week between St. Mary of the Lake, Michigan City's St. Stanislaus Kostka involved several adults
By JIM DALGLEISH - Assistant Local News Editor
and TIM MORAN - For The Herald-Palladium
Published: Monday, December 19, 2011 1:07 PM EST
NEW BUFFALO — Officials at St. Mary of the Lake School are sticking by earlier statements regarding last week’s fracas in the stands at an eighth-grade girls basketball game at the New Buffalo school.

School Athletic Director Paul Oselka said Sunday night he would have no comment regarding published accounts from the visiting team’s coach that a St. Mary fan started the fight, and that tensions were rooted in the poor performance of referees hired by the New Buffalo Catholic school.

“We issued a statement, and we’re sticking with our statement,” Oselka said in a phone interview. “We’re working with the other school, and police are looking at (it).”

Tuesday night’s fight between fans of St. Mary of the Lake and Michigan City’s St. Stanislaus Kostka Catholic school eighth-grade girls basketball teams began as an argument between two female fans with about 10 seconds remaining in the game, St. Stanislaus coach Bob Johnson told the News-Dispatch newspaper of Michigan City.

He said his team was leading 25-23, and St. Mary of the Lake had the ball with time winding down when the game clock mistakenly stopped.

“I yelled over to the scorer’s table and said ‘start the clock, start the clock,’ but then the official gave me a technical (foul),” Johnson said, claiming he did not use profanity to warrant the technical.

“I just wanted the clock to run down because we were ahead.”

So when a St. Mary of the Lake player headed to the free throw line to attempt to tie the score with a pair of shots, St. Stan fans “kicked bleachers and made a lot of noise,” Johnson said, to distract the shooter.

Although commonplace during basketball gamesat all levels, especially during a technical foul situation, he continued, this angered many St. Mary parents.

“I don’t think they liked that too much,” Johnson said. “The girl missed the free throws, and that is when it all started.”

Johnson said that after the second free throw rimmed out, an elderly woman supporting St. Mary of the Lake “grabbed and slapped” one of the St. Stanislaus mothers on the top row of the bleachers.

“The lady who was hit was in shock, but all of a sudden this big guy came from across the gym,” he said. “He looked like he was in a rage, then started to throw punches.”

At that point, Johnson said a girl who plays for St. Stan’s fourth-, fifth- and sixth-grade team was inadvertently “elbowed” in the stomach by the angry man. That’s when the father and brother of the girl “went after the big guy, and all heck broke loose,” Johnson said.

Although Johnson only saw those three throw punches, he said the players had to be pulled out of what turned into a group fight.

The game was called with five seconds to play, and so were the police.

It would have been St. Mary of the Lake’s possession down by two points.

St. Mary of the Lake Principal Kate VanPelt and Oselka, who coaches the school’s eighth-grade girls team, released a statement regarding the event.

“We are confident that the ongoing police investigation will bring forth the true facts of what occurred and prefer to focus our attention on our students and on ensuring that such an incident does not happen again,” the statement read.

“We are working together with the principal and the athletic director of St. Stanislaus School to continue our long-standing relationship of mutual respect and support.”

Berrien County Prosecutor Art Cotter said Friday afternoon his office has received no requests from police for arrest warrants.

Sgt. Jason Grimmett of the New Buffalo Police Department said he is still “putting the pieces of the puzzle together” and will have a report issued shortly.

Of the incident, Johnson said it’s something he has “never seen anything like” as a player or a coach, and something like that “should never happen.”

In addition to the fans who resorted to physicality, Johnson places a bit of blame on the referees for “riling up” St. Stan’s fans by not calling fouls against St. Mary players when they were warranted.

“The officiating led to the fans getting rowdier,” he said. “When they see our girls get roughed up and there is no call, it is frustrating.”

Johnson said his team did not get to the free throw line that night as no fouls were called against the Lakers, which appoints its own officials for home games.

St. Stanislaus, which does not have a home arena, has played the New Buffalo school on a yearly basis.

Despite Tuesday night’s incident, Johnson said he would schedule St. Mary of the Lake again, but not if the same officials are present.

“I’ll play them again, but if we walk into the gym and see the same referees, we will say ‘thanks for wasting our gas and head back to Indiana,’” he said.

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http://www.wndu.com/localnews/headlines/Po..._136721588.html

Possible charges for four after basketball brawl
New Buffalo, Mich.
Three adults and a teenager could face charges after a large fight at an eighth grade basketball game in New Buffalo.
Reporter: News Center 16 Staff
Email Address: newscenter16@wndu.com

Three adults and a teenager could face charges after a large fight at an eighth grade basketball game, according to the Herald Palladium.

New Buffalo Police have recommended the charges.

The fight happened in December just before 9:30 p.m. at a game between St. Mary of the Lake School and St. Stan's of Michigan City.

There were reports of assaults and some very minor injuries. By the time police arrived, the fight was already broken up.

Witnesses helped police identify four people involved in the fight.

The Berrien County prosecutor's office can either accept or deny the recommendation. All of the charges are misdemeanors.

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http://thenewsdispatch.com/articles/2012/0...82620138751.txt

Charges considered in NB basketball game melee

By Ray Gudas
For The News-Dispatch
Published: Wednesday, January 4, 2012 5:07 PM CST
NEW BUFFALO, Mich. — If the Berrien County Prosecutor’s Office accepts the New Buffalo Police Department’s recommendation, four people will face charges stemming from violence that erupted among opposing fans at St. Mary of the Lake School gymnasium.

The incident occurred Dec. 13 during a basketball game between the St. Mary of the Lake eighth-grade girls team and their counterparts from St. Stanislaus Kostka Catholic School in Michigan City.

After interviewing at least a dozen people who witnessed or were otherwise involved in the disturbance, the New Buffalo Police Department is recommending charges be brought against two people from Michigan and two from Indiana.

If the prosecutor’s office agrees with the assessment of the evening’s events prepared by New Buffalo Sgt. Jason Grimmett, it will seek formal charges of assault and battery against all four people, police said. Three also face potential charges of disturbing the peace. All are misdemeanor charges.

*
The News-Dispatch is not releasing the names of those under investigation until formal charges are filed. The charges, once filed in court, become public record.

Chief Assistant Prosecutor Mike Sepic said last week he forwarded his recommendations regarding the incident for judicial review, as is required, but declined to reveal what his recommendations were until after the review has been completed.

The prosecutor’s office still was awaiting a response as of Tuesday, but a staff member there said there was nothing unusual about that, especially at this time of year when many people are on vacation.

If warrants are issued after the judicial review has been completed, those charged will have to post bond and agree to attend a pretrial hearing.

Although some witnesses quoted in the police report have conflicting accounts as to how the disturbance started and who was at fault, there is some consensus that there actually were two separate incidents of violence that evening, including a St. Mary’s fan allegedly slapping a St. Stan’s fan.

Police reportedly arrived at the New Buffalo school after the fight ended. New Buffalo Patrolman Mike Cluster called it a “fans gone wild situation.”

No specific injuries were reported, but Cluster said Medic 1 Ambulance attended to a number of people at the scene. Also responding were members of the Berrien County Sheriff’s Department, Pokagon Tribal Police, Michigan State Police, Three Oaks Police and Chikaming Township Police.

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http://thenewsdispatch.com/articles/2012/0...08961810066.txt

Police, prosecutor, to be commended for action on melee case

Published: Thursday, January 5, 2012 5:07 PM CST
The update that the New Buffalo Police Department has forwarded a report to the Berrien County Prosecutor’s Office seeking charges against four people from a Dec. 13 fan melee at a St. Mary of the Lake eighth grade girls basketball game is welcome news that the matter is being taken seriously.

According to the police department, the incident occurred during a game between the St. Mary team in New Buffalo and St. Stanislaus Kostka Catholic School in Michigan City. Police have interviewed about a dozen people who witnessed the incident and have recommended that charges be brought against four people, two from the Michigan and two from Indiana.

The prosecutor’s office said it has forwarded its recommendations for judicial review, but the judge has not returned a response to the request yet.

The New Buffalo Police and the Berrien County Prosecutor’s Office should be commended for pursuing charges in this matter. Fan violence anywhere is a serious issue. To have this happen at an eighth grade girls basketball game is regrettable. Sportsmanship isn’t just for the players and coaches. It’s also for the fans.

*
It’s sad that criminal charges might have to be filed to make that point more forcefully.

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http://www.wndu.com/localnews/headlines/Ar..._136870478.html

Arrest warrants issued for fights at 8th grade basketball game
New Buffalo, Mich.
Warrants have been issued for two people in connection to the fights that broke out among coaches and fans during a December basketball game in New Buffalo.

Warrants have been issued for two people in connection to the fights that broke out among coaches and fans during a December basketball game in New Buffalo.

According to our reporting partners at the Herald Palladium, Effie Woodruff, 69, of New Buffalo, and Edward Harris, 35, of Michigan City, both face charges of assault and battery. A charge against a Michigan City 16-year-old is pending.

This all stems from a December 13 eighth-grade girls basketball game between St. Mary of the Lake School in New Buffalo and St. Stanislaus Catholic School of Michigan City.

Fights broke out during the game, but by the time police arrived the fights had been broken up.

Woodruff is accused of slapping a fan, and Harris is accused of assaulting a St. Mary's assistant coach.

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http://www.heraldpalladium.com/articles/20...ews/8156695.txt

Witnesses: Assistant coach should be charged

Fans at eighth-grade girls basketball game describe exchanges
By TIM MORAN - For The Herald-Palladium
Published: Sunday, January 15, 2012 1:06 PM EST
NEW BUFFALO - Several eyewitnesses to the melee at an eighth-grade girls basketball game between fans of St. Mary of the Lake and St. Stanislaus schools of Michigan City are calling for a St. Mary's assistant coach to be charged in addition to three fans charged.

The New Buffalo Police Department recommended that James Geisler, the assistant coach and a 45-year-old Galien resident, be charged with assault and battery and disturbing the peace. Last week, the Berrien County Prosecutor's Office did not charge him.

The Rev. Javaughn Blakely of High Praise Ministries in Michigan City was at the game, sitting one row below his wife, Felicia Blakely. He says Geisler should be charged for "igniting the entire thing."

The Rev. Blakely said that after his wife was slapped, allegedly by 69-year-old New Buffalo resident Effie Woodruff, who is charged with assault and battery, St. Stans parent Edward Harris, 35, who is charged with assault and battery and disturbing the peace, yelled out "I will testify!" after Blakely's wife said she was going to call the police as she was leaving the gym.

Afterward, Blakely said one of the game's referees told Harris to "sit down and shut up."

At that point, Blakely said, Geisler ran from the St. Mary's bench into the stands "as if he were going to physically" remove Harris from the stands.

Blakely said Geisler tripped while running up the stairs, and either intentionally or unintentionally pushed St. Stan's parent Tenisha Stephens, who is Harris' fiancée.

Stephens, her 11-year-old daughter Kenisha Stephens and 13-year-old daughter Kamiya Stephens, who was playing in the game, all said Geisler punched Kenisha in the stomach and fought Harris and Tenisha's 16-year-old son as a fight ensued.

Tenisha Stephens described Geisler as "a raging bull" as he ran up the stairs.

Kenisha said, "He (Geisler) was going after my Dad and then ended up on top of me beating me up. Another parent brought me from under the pile. ... My mom was trying to get the coach off my brother, but he wouldn't get off, and just kept pounding him."

The original report filed by the New Buffalo Police Department listed Kenisha as a victim, and that she had been seen "laying on the ground holding her stomach."

Kenisha says the only person who injured her during the brawl was Geisler.

The Rev. Blakely said Geisler did punch the 11-year-old girl, and her 16-year-old brother, while fighting with Harris.

Harris, according to Blakely, did fight back.

"I can't say what I would have done as a pastor if I saw my wife and kids got hit," Blakely said. "In my mind, his actions were justified."

But according to Mike Sepic, chief assistant Berrien County prosecutor, Geisler's actions in using force to remove Harris, who had been ejected by a game official, were justified.

"He may have went about it in an aggressive matter, but Mr. Geisler had every right to attempt to remove Mr. Harris from the stands, even by using physical force," Sepic said.

The prosecutor said he "did not see a need" to issue a warrant for Geisler because he was a school official acting in an official capacity.

"When the referee told Mr. Harris he would be removed, Mr. Geisler had the right to assist," Sepic said, noting the New Buffalo Police Department requested charges be filed against Geisler, and that it was his (Sepic's) decision to decline the charges.

"The police department was simply giving me the opportunity to issue a warrant," he said.

After reading reports gathered by the New Buffalo Police Department, Sepic determined it was Harris who "set the stage for what was to come.

"Both sides made it clear that referee did their thing in response to the language he was using in response."

But Blakely, who police reports indicate was attempting to become a peacemaker in the ordeal, contends Harris and the 16-year-old acted in self-defense.

Kamiya Stephens said the attitude of the referees incited the situation to what it became.

"When my dad said he would be a witness (to the Woodruff incident), the ref said 'shut up and sit down' and 'you won't be a witness to anything.'"

Kamiya said Geisler then jumped on her father.

"I saw my dad on the St. Mary's side and a whole bunch of people jumping on him," she said. "The ref was grabbing my dad, too."

The Rev. Blakely says the officiating all night long was "terrible" and "one-sided."

"One St. Mary's girl picked up the ball and started running with it, and the refs did not call it (traveling violation)," Blakely said. "St. Stan's was ahead by 15, and then the refs called everything on them and nothing on St. Mary's."

Repeated attempts to reach St. Mary of the Lake Principal Kate Van Pelt for comment were unsuccessful. Neither Geisler nor one of the referees officiating the contest returned phone calls requesting comment.