INGLEWOOD : Basketball Game Canceled Because of Robbery Probe

A basketball game between ninth-graders from Inglewood and Santa Monica high schools was canceled Friday, two weeks after a pair of Santa Monica High basketball players reported being robbed of their Walkman radios in Inglewood High’s gymnasium.

The boys basketball game, scheduled to be held in the Inglewood High gym, was canceled because an investigation of the alleged robbery had not been completed, said Sandor Rosenfield, an assistant principal at Santa Monica High. Rosenfield said the school plans to take part in all its future athletic events at Inglewood, however.

“This was an isolated incident that could have happened anywhere,” Rosenfield said.

The robbery occurred Jan. 26 when Santa Monica’s junior varsity basketball squad played Inglewood High’s team in Inglewood. Two Santa Monica high players reported that three people followed them into a gymnasium restroom and forced them at gunpoint to hand over their radios.

The incident is being investigated by Inglewood High campus police, who declined to comment Friday. Though Santa Monica High’s ninth-grade basketball game at Inglewood was canceled, varsity and junior varsity games that the two schools were scheduled to play at Santa Monica High on Friday were set to go ahead as planned.