An injury to a player in Watertown High School’s boys basketball game against Lexington caused play to be suspended, and the player was sent to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
The player, from Lexington, landed on his head after a play near the basket. Witnesses said he appeared to be unconscious and then appeared to have spasms. The player was taken to the hospital, and “is home healing and is expected to make a full recovery and join his team soon,” wrote Watertown High School Principal Joel Giacobozzi in a letter to students and parents sent out Wednesday morning.
Many students and parents at the game were visibly upset. Giacobozzi said that in the morning announcements that went over the WHS PA system, students were told they could take time out of class to speak to a counselor to talk about the incident.
Watertown Athletic Director Ryan Murphy said that the game will be continued at a later date. The game took place at the Watertown Middle School Gym, which is being used while WHS is under construction.
See the letter below:
Good morning,
I want to make you aware of an injury that occurred to a Lexington player last night at the boys basketball game. Many students were there and were upset by the injury. It was a difficult injury to watch and we plan to support our students, staff, and student athletes by offering check-ins with our counselors. I plan to read the announcement below on the PA as we have no way of knowing exactly who was at the game, and we want to be sure that all students get a consistent message of support. Our hearts go out to the young man injured and the Lexington High School community. Please reach out with any questions or concerns.
Announcement: Last night at the boys basketball game a player from Lexington suffered a frightening injury during play. It was very hard to watch and we imagine those in attendance were upset and are still processing what they saw. I’m making this announcement because we are unsure of who was in attendance and did not have the ability to support everyone as we wish, last night.
I’m happy to report that the Lexington student is home healing and is expected to make a full recovery and join his team soon. Thank you to our amazing staff who acted quickly in getting the young man the help he needed, and thank you to our students who were respectful and caring during this scary incident. Our counseling staff is prepared to sit and process with students that are upset by last night’s injury. If you would like to get support from one of our counselors, please ask your teacher for a pass to guidance and they will write you one for your visit.