Two fights involving hundreds of people, on two consecutive nights, broke out at Minneapolis basketball games.  

The first was Tuesday night during a high school girl’s varsity game where Minneapolis North was hosting Patrick Henry. It led to both schools canceling their games Thursday night — something the Minneapolis Public Schools says was required by the Minnesota State High School League.

The fight started between players on the court and quickly escalated to bench players and fans joining.

According to the Minneapolis Police Department, by the time officers responded the fight had ended and people were leaving the property. MPD says no injuries were reported to them and no arrests were made.

Then Wednesday night, MPD said as many as 200 people — adults and children — were involved in a fight following a middle school basketball game.

According to Minneapolis police, officers were called to a brawl at Sullivan STEAM School at around 7:17 p.m.

Officers were told that a fight had started in the school’s gym after a game and then spilled into the streets.

Police arrived, broke up the fights and told everyone to leave the area, the department says. Other agencies also responded to help MPD.

No injuries were reported and police say nobody has been arrested.

The incident remains under investigation and it wasn’t immediately clear what started the fight.

MPS sent the following statements regarding the fights.

Regarding [Wednesday] night’s incident during the Sullivan-Olson game:

Our highest priority is the safety of our students and staff. Following tonight’s game, a fight broke out. We responded to this incident based on our security plan. As a result of that response, thankfully no one was injured. We will continue our investigation followed by taking the appropriate steps based on our MPS discipline policy.  We are committed to taking actions to provide a safe learning environment for all students, and a safe working environment for all staff.”

Regarding the Henry-North game:

Our highest priority at North and Henry is the safety of our students and staff, and fighting is not tolerated at school during class or extra-curricular activities. [Tuesday], an incident occurred during the girls basketball game between North and Patrick Henry High Schools. An altercation broke out involving players and other students from the opposing teams with minutes left in the game. Play was suspended and security personnel responded immediately to the incident and followed Minneapolis Public Schools’ security plan. The Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) will issue an official report after investigating.

In the meantime, North and Henry are collaborating to work with district leadership and the MSHSL to bring students from both teams together. We are working to repair any harm done to our school communities or the northside community.

We follow the MPS discipline policy in instances of fighting. We are committed to taking actions to provide a safe learning environment for all students, and a safe working environment for all staff.