Undefeated South Granville was up 72-66 on Reidsville with less than 20 seconds left in the game.
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During a timeout, 20-year-old Tyrell Thorpe, a South Granville fan and alum, grabbed a pro-Granville sign and ran across the court toward the Reidsville team and fans.
The sign read "Y'all can't jump like Kobe," referring to Vikings star player Kobe Jones.
Brawl erupts at South Granville basketball game
Video from the gym shows a scuffle develop after Thorpe ran to the Reidsville side of the court. The fan said an officer tried to grab him but that's when a Rams fan entered the fray and the fight began.
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"He had a sign that he received from one of the school teachers, because the school was in the process of winning," Bronzella Mallory, Thorpe's mother told ABC11. "And he was pulled by a law enforcement, which caught him off balance. And when he turned around, one of the coaches grabbed him and pushed him, and he fell into the crowd of Reidsville High School students, and they all jumped him."
Thorpe said he had no intention of causing trouble.
"They were trying to say I was trying to jump them," he told ABC11. "That I was trying to fight them. How would I do that when there's one of me and 10 of y'all?"
Officials cleared out the gym without allowing the teams to play out the final 19.1 seconds.
"I know he doesn't go to that school now, but he was only trying to celebrate a win, like they do at all games," Mallory said. "That's not the way you're supposed to do things. Now people are saying 'He got what he deserved.' Really?"
Both teams agreed to play the final seconds Thursday evening in a closed gym without any spectators.
Creedmoor Police are investigating after the use of pepper spray to break up the incident.