Three weeks into the New Jersey high school basketball season, a troubling wave of violence began, escalating from altercations to a fatal stabbing. The turmoil ignited on January 5, when seven players from Arts High School left the bench area to join a brawl with Roselle Catholic.
This incident led to Arts High School, a top contender for the state title from Newark, being disqualified from the postseason.
In the following month, the situation deteriorated further, with three additional teams—the Kearny and Dwight-Morrow boys’ teams and the Woodbury girls’ team—facing playoff bans due to separate, increasingly violent incidents on the court.