Sophomore George Murphy, a forward for the Modesto Christian Crusaders, suffered a season ending injury in a scrimmage at Ripon High. Within the first minute of the game, Murphy suffered the non-contact injury.First year basketball coach and English teacher at Ripon High Brice Fantazia described the scene.

“It was disgusting,” said Fantazia, “It looked like there was a hole in his knee. We thought he blew his knee out. Fortunately, there’s no structural damage. He was screaming and everyone stared in shock. He got a nosebleed from freaking out which made the mess even messier.”

The athlete was carried away in an ambulance and needed surgery the next morning. The operation was successful and his doctors have noticed that he is healing quicker than normal. If he continues on this trend, Murphy will recover enough to play by next season.

George Murphy’s knee buckled after landing from an attempt to block a layup by basketball player Nathan Hernandez. Once everyone had realized the tragedy that had occurred to the basketball player, his team had knelt down in prayer.

Because the two towns are so close, players from both teams knew each other and were even friends. Most players had played on little league teams with at least a few of their opponents. Ripon High’s basketball team joined the Christian team in prayer. Parents in the crowd were reportedly shocked by the display of sportsmanship by the coaches, parents, and especially players at Ripon High.