Game day is changed, fans may attend

Hawks, Cougars go at 3 p.m. Saturday

The game is on. But the day has changed.

The principals from Volcano Vista and Cibola — in conjunction with Albuquerque Public Schools — on Tuesday announced that the upcoming Hawks-Cougars boys basketball game, originally set for 7 p.m. Friday at Cibola, will be played at 3 p.m. Saturday instead.

The day change is a result of a large postgame fight involving dozens of students from both schools that occurred outside of the gym after the Hawks’ 65-41 win over the Cougars at Volcano Vista on Jan. 25.

An email obtained by the Journal and sent to parents of students at the rival schools said this was part of a plan to “ease tensions” and “restore our friendly rivalry.”

The email was signed by Volcano Vista principal Vickie Bannerman, Cibola principal Pam Meyer and APS Associate Superintendent Yvonne Garcia.

“I think the conversations between the schools have been healthy,” Garcia said in a phone interview Tuesday night. “A majority of the kids want good, healthy relations and don’t want a negative light shone on their school.”

That, however, was exactly the fallout from Jan. 25.

“Things surrounding the game have been a distraction for both schools,” Volcano Vista boys basketball coach Greg Brown said. “We’ve never had a situation get out of control like it did (against Cibola).”

Bannerman and Meyer have been spearheading a suitable solution for the boys rematch, which will have additional security Saturday.

One of the possibilities was to play this game in an empty gym, with no students or parents. That would have been a drastic, but not unprecedented, move. The girls from Los Lunas and Rio Grande did that in 2010, although that was because of direct conflict between the teams.

“That was an item that was discussed,” Cibola coach/athletic director Ray Rodriguez said of the no-fan option. “But moving it to Saturday afternoon and having some daylight makes a lot of sense.”

No basketball players from either Cibola’s or Volcano Vista’s varsity teams were involved, the coaches said.

However, the Journal has learned that athletes from both schools — in sports other than basketball — were punished for their participation in the postgame fights. Multiple sources said there are some athletes who will be prohibited from participating in a spring sport because of their involvement. And one student, according to a KRQE-TV report, hit a female APS officer in the face and was arrested.

“Both schools have done a good job of finding out what kids were involved and handing out the appropriate discipline,” Rodriguez said.

Cibola and Volcano Vista both canceled their winter balls as a result of the fights.

“It’s usually pretty respectful,” Brown said of the rivalry. “What happened a couple of weeks ago was surprising. It was pretty embarrassing for both schools.”

The boys and the girls games both will be played at 3 p.m. Saturday. Cibola’s girls will be at Volcano Vista. That game, too, was slated for Friday night.

“I was kinda surprised,” Cibola coach Lori Mabrey said. “I didn’t know that was part of the plan at all. (But) I understand the administrative decision behind it.”

Rodriguez said there may be an additional plan Saturday to separate fans after the game. It’s possible the fan bases could be shuttled out separate exits, or one group of fans could be taken out of the gym first.

As far as what lit the fuse on the Jan. 25 fight in the first place, no one seems absolutely certain, but everyone agrees that social media banter was a huge contributing factor.

“In this case,” Rodriguez said, “it escalated the situation. It was instigated by just a few.”

There will be a JV game at 1:30 at both gyms Saturday. The C-team games were moved to Monday afternoon.

“The message to the student body is that we conduct ourselves better no matter what the circumstances,” Volcano Vista AD Ben Brown said.