BEND - An off-court incident Friday night took attention away from a significant highlight in South Albany High School athletics in recent years.

A fight in the stands between South Albany and Mountain View students with 59 seconds remaining in the host Cougars’ 61-49 5A boys basketball state playoff victory resulted in about 150 South Albany students being sent out to the buses they traveled over on.

There was a 12-minute delay in the game while the South Albany students were removed, with several raising their middle fingers to the Mountain View students and across the court to the Mountain View fans as they were ushered out. The Mountain View students, in sections next to the South Albany section on the floor, were allowed to stay.

Mountain View’s students and other fans were held by police in the stands after the game until the South Albany students left in their buses. Police said no arrests were made.

“Very embarrassing to be part of South Albany right now,” said South senior guard Kyle Wallace. “To be part of this basketball team is fun, but it’s embarrassing to see the students do what they did. It hurt really bad to see it happen, too.“

The fight happened during a timeout, after the Mountain View students, for the second time in the game, performed a chant that included pointing to the Mountain View team and saying “winning team” and then pointing to the South team and saying “losing team.“

South Albany students took offense, and pointing, yelling and finally pushing ensued.

“I was so disappointed because I thought our players played hard and I thought (Mountain View) played hard,” South coach Bari Rogers said. “They were all good competitors and were leaving it on the floor. It tainted it. It really did.

“I don’t know what was said. I don’t know what happened. It’s just too bad. It disappointed the kids (South players) on the floor. They were really upset over the whole thing.“

South Albany brought four rooter buses, with a total of about 200 students and 16 staff members.

South Albany principal Chris Equinoa had a meeting with the students before they left South Albany on Friday to talk about sportsmanship and Oregon School Activities rules regarding taunting.

Equinoa said, in his opinion, the Mountain View students were over the line in their behavior.

On the court, South Albany didn’t get outplayed, just outshot.

The Rebels, though often tightly guarded, missed numerous shots at or near the basket.

South (14-11) finished 17 off 55 from the floor, including 9 of 31 in the second half. Mountain View (15-10), ranked 10th, was 21 of 43.

Rogers said he talked to his team at halftime about shooting 8 for 24 but still only being down 32-23.

“We just said ‘Hey, we’re playing these people even. We just need to hit some free throws and some shots,” Rogers said. “To win in the playoffs, you have to play your best ball, and that’s the way it should be.”

South wasn’t able to improve its percentage and fell behind 43-25 in the third quarter.

Though the Rebels clawed back in. A pair of 3-pointers by Zach Ayers got South within 50-40 with 5:39 remaining. And a Wallace 3 made it 53-45 with 3:49 left.

But the Rebels scored just two from there as Mountain View held on.

South senior post Sam Knight had one of his best games of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Junior post Wes Bartz had 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Ayers and Erik van Keulen, both seniors, had eight points apiece.

Mountain View was led by sophomore guard Jesse Zapata, who came off the bench to score a game-high 15 points.

Sean Dart and Brady Brent had 13 each.

Mountain View advances to play (Friday’s winner between Sherwood and No. 9 Ashland) in the state tournament on Wednesday in Eugene.

“We didn’t play our best game tonight,” Wallace said.

“Hats off to Mountain View, they played an awesome game.“

South claimed the Mid-Willamette Conference’s second seed with a 9-5 record.

“We can hold our heads high,” Rogers said. “We accomplished a lot this year. We overachieved.“

The South students sent the team off to Bend with an assembly Friday morning.

Rogers said his team had a good trip across the mountains on a charter bus.

“It was just a great day, and I’m sure that’s what the kids are going to remember,” he said. “We’re disappointed we didn’t win, but we left it all on the floor and that’s about all you can do.“

South Albany 6 17 9 17 — 49

Mountain View 12 20 14 15 — 61

South Albany (49): Sam Knight 13, Woolard, Hacek, Ayers 8, Bartz 10, Wallace 3, van Keulen 8, Fawver 5, Boehme 2. Totals 17-55, 10-15 49.

Mountain View (61): Jesse Zapata 15, Cashman 8, Kennedy 6, Ashbaugh 4, Jacobson, Thompson, Brent 13, Dart 13, Ridling 2, Wilcox. Totals 21-43 15-20 61.

3-pointers: South Albany 5 (Ayers 2, Wallace, Knight, Fawver), Mountain View 4 (Cashman 2, Zapata, Brent);

Turnovers: South Albany 12, Mountain View 14.