Saturday Video emerged of a brawl last month between students of Santa Monica and Beverly Hills High. The fight broke out after the Beverly Hills Normans swept JV and varsity boys’ and girls’ basketball games against the Vikings.
CBS2’s Greg Mills reported that “there are lots of punches thrown, angry words.” The two schools co-exist on the Westside of Los Angeles and have entertained a solid rivalry for decades.
Jackson Price, a Beverly Hills High senior, who covers sports for the school newspaper said, “It was clear that the first punches that were thrown were thrown by Samohi students.” He added that the “Samohi students outnumbered the Beverly High students.”
The fight erupted when the students headed to the parking lot across the street at the Santa Monica Civic Center where many had parked their cars. Price said that he had been writing about the rivalry since he was a freshman, but admitted that he never saw anything as bad as the night of Jan. 23.
“It quickly escalated,” said Price, “they followed this kid to his Mercedes. They proceeded to kick in his headlights and key his car and jump on top of his roof.”
Santa Monica Principal Eva Mayoral in a letter to parents, “If I do not believe that we can participate at Beverly safely, I will cancel all games.”
The two schools are slated to meet again on Tuesday night at Beverly Hills High. “Both schools have worked to establish an SMPD, and Beverly Hills PD presence as fans move to their vehicles and depart.”