Youth basketball player faces assault charge

A youth basketball player suspected of punching a referee last week surrendered Monday to State Police.

A State Police spokesman confirmed the 19-year-old who resides in Hudson Falls was charged with misdemeanor assault and disorderly conduct for a confrontation that occurred June 5 at a Zero Gravity Basketball tournament at Impact Athletic Center in Halfmoon.

He’s due to appear June 22 in

Halfmoon Town Court. He was given appearance tickets and released. It was unclear if he had an attorney.

A video shows a player from a team called Saratoga Splash throwing a series of punches at the referee, who had just sat down in a chair at courtside after a confrontation among a group of people.

Troopers responded at approximately 4:51 p.m. to a report of a fight in progress. Video shows the player who struck the official ran off after throwing the punches.

Officials for Zero Gravity, owned by 3Step sports, did not return messages for comment. Zero Gravity returns to Impact Athletic Center on Saturday and Sunday for a Coaches vs. Cancer event to raise money for cancer research.

Impact Athletic Center cofounder Tom Huerter said his facility is adding security and Zero Gravity, which rents the building for the event, is required to have employees monitoring every court.

“All parties involved, between Impact Athletics, Zero Gravity, and the officials, we all want everything to be safe and secure,” Huerter said. “Everyone’s taking extra precautions because we know there’s a lot of light on this event so we’re going the extra mile but it’s also something that’s the norm of what we need to do going forward.”

Huerter added the Saratoga Splash will be banned permanently from events at Impact Athletic Center.

The June 5 incident prompted recriminations from youth referees and others.

One youth umpire said he quit amid threatening behavior from parents.