Two-game suspension for Texas girls' basketball cheap shot sparks outrage
Outrage is sweeping through Texas after the state’s high school sports governing body merely gave a slap on the wrist to a Kerrville Tivy High girls’ basketball player who levied a cheap shot on an opposing player that reportedly resulted in a concussion and an extended recovery.
Tivy senior McKenzie Dill leveled unsuspecting South San Antonio High sophomore Destiny Hilliary from behind during a mid-November tournament game. Hilliary collapsed to the floor and stumbled again to the ground after attempting to get up. Video of the incident went viral soon afterward:
Done after Tivy head coach stated to get #12 out of game.
Suffering now from concussion & whiplash, nothing has been done yet. No call made by referees. Tivy #24 continues to play while SSHS #12 is out for at least 3 weeks.@GMA pic.twitter.com/nB0g19CuJq— Yolivansanford (@yolivan22) November 21, 2017
No foul was called on the play.
Tivy principal Shelby Balser told the Texas High School Coaches Association executive committee in December that Dill did not intend to injure Hilliary but received a two-game suspension for her actions. South San Antonio officials pushed for a stiffer penalty, and the THSCA approved a motion to send the matter to the University Interscholastic League, which oversees high school sports in Texas.
The UIL handed down an additional two-game ban and probation for the remainder of the season, according to KSAT-TV. UIL chairperson Mike Motheral issued the following statement to the media:
“The motion was for this young lady to be suspended for two district basketball games starting this Friday. So it will be Friday and Tuesday. She also will be on probation, thus if she has anymore flagrant type fouls, she will be automatically suspended for the remainder of the school year and she will receive a reprimand.”
However, many still consider this penalty too light, especially since Hilliary missed nine games after a concussion diagnosis. Doctors also reportedly told her that another concussion could end her career.
HIlliary publicly asked for an apology — one that South San Antonio coach Jacob Alegria told KSAT-TV did not come from either Dill or her mother, Tivy coach Kristy Dill, in the weeks following the incident. Hilliary’s mother, Lupita, told the local television news station that she wants more than an apology.
“I want her charged with assault,” Lupita, who filed a police report in San Antonio, told KSAT-TV.
No charges have been filed against Dill, according to the report, and the investigation remains open.
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