Things got out of control pretty quickly.

A California high school basketball game had a bizarre ending Thursday night. Downtown Magnets faced off against Dorsey in the first round of the CIF Los Angeles City Section playoffs. The Suns, out of the Temple-Beaudry neighborhood near downtown L.A., secured a 59-54 win over Susan Miller Dorsey High School to advance to the quarterfinals.

A player from Dorsey lost his cool at the end of the game and attacked a referee. As a senior, his high school basketball career is likely coming to a close. After the final buzzer, the player walked across the court to have a word with an official.

He bumped into the referee twice. The official faked an attack and lay on the ground (like another high school basketball referee in Kansas City) for a brief moment. Several adults and teammates tried to take the angry player away from the referee, but once he broke free, he started throwing punches at the referee.

The referee eluded the first two punches and seemingly threw one in self-defense. People could hold the player back again, and the situation de-escalated.

Los Angeles Unified School District Launches Investigation Into High School Basketball Game’s Bizarre Ending

Loose ball at high school basketball game (Photo via Imagn Images) (Not from actual game)

City Section commissioner Vicky Lagos has paid close attention to the controversial developments. The LAUSD issued a statement on the incident.

“The Los Angeles Unified School District expects its student-athletes to meet high standards of conduct and sportsmanship. We have been made aware of an alleged incident after last night’s game at Dorsey High School. The matter is under review by the CIF LA City Section and us, and will be addressed in accordance with policy. Because this incident involves a student, federal and state privacy laws limit what we can share.”

Patrick Lei led the No. 12 seed Suns to victory over the Dons with 30 points and 10 rebounds. They will play King/Drew in the next round of the tournament.