White players accused of yelling racial slurs at Black players before all-out brawl at New Jersey high school basketball game
ENGLEWOOD, N.J. -- A brawl at a New Jersey high school basketball game led to parents getting banned and a team's season ending early.
There are ugly accusations about what started it.
An altercation between two varsity players turned into a melee at Dwight Morrow High School in Englewood. Both benches cleared, and so did the stands.
"Fans jumped in. People from Dumont, they jumped in. And then it escalated from there," said Kerron Pitts, a senior on the Dwight Morrow basketball team.
It happened Tuesday night, during Dwight Morrow's game against Dumont High School.
Pitts and others at the game told CBS2 some white players on Dumont yelled racial slurs at Black players on Dwight Morrow.
"The N-word, animals, monkeys. That type of stuff," said Pitts.
Kerron's father said he also heard the slurs.
"It's horrible. Horrible. These times and days, still dealing with this for years now," said Keith Pitts.
The game was canceled in the third quarter as a result of the brawl.
Dwight Morrow High School decided to cancel the rest of the varsity and junior varsity basketball teams' seasons.
"It really hurts too because we really worked hard this year," said Kerron Pitts.
Dwight Morrow players said the Dumont players' season should end early too because of their roles in the fight and alleged use of racial slurs.
When CBS2 called the Dumont superintendent's office for comment, someone answered the phone, said they had no comment and hung up multiple times.
Englewood's superintendent sent a letter to parents saying, "Spectators will not be permitted to attend the remaining winter events held at Dwight Morrow High School," as a safety measure.
Spectators will be able to watch on YouTube.
The Englewood Police Department said in a statement that they're thoroughly investigating all aspects of the fight. Officers have been in contact with many people involved, along with the Englewood Public School District staff and the Bergen County prosecutor's office.