Virginia
Virginia teen track runner who bashed opponent’s head with baton rallies supporters after getting assault charge
The Virginia teen who was seen bashing an opponent’s head with a baton during a high school track meet held a rally of supporters on Thursday to reiterate her innocence.
The rally came just one day after she was served with a misdemeanor battery and assault charge.
The student, Alaila Everett, held the rally outside of her school, I.C. Norcom High School, in Portsmouth, Virginia.
Dozens of individuals were seen attending the rally, as Everett delivered a tearful speech, where she thanked her supporters while sobbing.
“Thank y’all for supporting me,” Everett said to the supporters, as seen in footage by local Virginia news station WAVY. “There’s no one else that wanted to hear my story, except the people that know me and people that know I would never do anything like that, I would never harm anybody. I’m not a fighter, I’m not even confrontational, I wouldn’t even do that on purpose, and I thank y’all for believing in me. I love y’all.”
Everett’s speech was met with loud applause and a chant of “We stand with you.”
Portsmouth NAACP President James Boyd also spoke at the rally, alleging threats and slurs that have been directed at Everett’s family.
“The Everett family has experienced racial slurs, they’ve experienced death threats, and we think unequivocally that those things are unacceptable,” Boyd said.
Local community activist Germain Green called for unity from the community in support of the teenager.
“It bothered me to my heart to see how the whole world was dragging this young lady, dragging her character based on what they thought they saw. I just wanted to step up, speak out, and bring unity and let this young lady know that the city of Portsmouth has her back,” Green said.
Lynchburg Commonwealth’s Attorney Office confirmed to Fox News Digital Wednesday that one misdemeanor charge of assault and battery had been filed over the incident.
The incident occurred last Tuesday during a championship meet, as footage showed Everett smashing her baton onto the head of Brookville High School junior Kaelen Tucker during a relay race.
Everett and her whole team were disqualified.
Tucker was later diagnosed with a concussion and possible skull fracture, as footage of the incident went viral.
Everett has since said the hits were accidental, in interviews with WAVY and “Good Morning America.”
The Virginia High School League (VHSL) previously issued a statement to Fox News Digital on the matter.
“The VHSL does not comment on individuals or disciplinary actions due to FERPA,” the league’s statement read. “The actions taken by the meet director to disqualify the runner were appropriate and correct. We thoroughly review every instance like this that involves player safety with the participating schools. The VHSL membership has always made it a priority to provide student-athletes with a safe environment for competition.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Portsmouth Public School District for comment from the Everett family.
Prior to the misdemeanor charges being announced on Everett, the Portsmouth NAACP released a statement defending the embattled teen on Wednesday.
“Alaila is NOT AN ATTACKER and media headlines that allude towards that in any way is shameful. We understand the sensitivity of the circumstances for both athletes and their families involved but this narrative must not go unaddressed,” the statement read.
“Alaila is an honor student and a star athlete at the historic I.C. Norcom High School. From all accounts, she is an exceptional young leader and scholar whose athletic talent has been well documented and recognized across our state. She has carried herself with integrity both on and off the field and any narrative that adjudicates her guilty of any criminal activity is a violation of her due process rights.”
Fox News Digital’s Scott Thompson contributed to this report.
CLEVELAND — For the third time since the 2019-20 season, Ohio State and West Virginia are squaring off on the home floor of the NBA’s Cavaliers.
It’s a chance for the Buckeyes to bounce back after an 88-80 loss to No. 13 Illinois on Dec. 9 and a game that coach Jake Diebler said will see them field a healthier roster.
“I think we’re resilient,” Diebler said Dec. 12. “We’re trying to play with that same urgency at a high level more consistently. We’re showing improvement in that. That’s what we’re fighting for is more possessions of high-level Ohio State basketball play.”
Ohio State is 7-2 and West Virginia is 8-3. Follow along with all the game action at our Dispatch live blog below.
With 3:45 left in double overtime, Ohio State’s Devin Royal fouled Chance Moore on a drive and checked out with five fouls. Moore hit both free throws and it’s a 79-77 Mountaineers lead.
West Virginia got the final shot, but Honor Huff’s final drive was off the mark and the Buckeyes and Mountaineers are going to double overtime tied at 77. The first overtime featured five lead changes, and Ohio State’s Devin Royal missed a free throw with 23.2 seconds left that could’ve been the game-winning point.
John Mobley Jr. missed a 3-pointer, then drew a charge to negate West Virginia’s final drive with four seconds left and give the Buckeyes one final attempt. Bruce Thornton’s deep 3-pointer didn’t fall, and after trailing by 16 points Ohio State is going to overtime against West Virginia.
John Mobley Jr.’s 3-point heave gave Ohio State a 68-66 lead with 1:03 left, but a West Virginia layup with 36.2 seconds remaining knotted the game at 68.
The Buckeyes have the ball with 24 seconds left after calling timeout with 17 on the shot clock.
The Buckeyes have strung together three consecutive defensive stops and will have possession after this under-4 timeout. West Virginia leads 63-59 with 3:30 to play.
It’s been a wild few minutes. The Buckeyes are on a 17-4 run to pull within 55-52, and they had a chance to tie the game as Bruce Thornton pulled up for a 3-pointer in transition. It came drastically short, and Thornton and Diebler were both calling out that contact was made, but no foul was called.
At the other end, West Virginia’s Brenen Lorient drew a touch foul on a drive to the basket, sending the teams into the under-8 timeout with 7:27 to play. After not getting the call at one end and then getting called for one at the other, Diebler immediately lit into the officials, who quickly assessed the technical.
West Virginia led by as many as 16 points, but Ohio State has used a full-court press and some offensive aggression to pull within 55-50 with 8:51 to play. The Buckeyes have the ball.
It’s still a double-digit deficit for the Buckeyes, but freshman forward Amare Bynum has scored on the last two possessions and Ohio State is on a modest 6-0 run to pull within 51-41 as West Virginia has called timeout with 11:49 left.
The Buckeyes have strung together three consecutive defensive stops.
The Mountaineers have scored on five straight possessions, the last two of which have been on 3-pointers, and now lead by a game-high 16 points. It’s 51-35 with 14 minutes to play after Ohio State coach Jake Diebler called timeout and lit into his players in the huddle.
Ohio State’s inability to grab a loose ball has fed into this stretch. Down 45-35, Amare Bynum had an offensive rebound go off his hands. At the other end, the Mountaineers missed, but Christoph Tilly couldn’t corral the long rebound and it ended with a Honor Huff 3-pointer.
The official stats are incorrect, but Buckeyes wing Devin Royal just went to the bench with 17:04 to play after picking up his fourth foul, three of which came during the first half.
West Virginia leads Ohio State 43-33 with 15:53 to play in the game as the Buckeyes have not been able to cut into the Mountaineers’ lead.
The next 20 minutes might be as impactful as any in Ohio State’s season. West Virginia outscored the Buckeyes 20-8 in the final 8:13 of the first half to take a 37-27 lead into the break at Rocket Arena.
The Mountaineers closed the half with a 3-pointer from Honor Huff, a prolific shooter who hadn’t gotten on the board until he was caught in the right corner, double-teamed and still heaved in a shot that found only net.
Nothing has gone right for Ohio State. The Buckeyes are 2 for 12 from 3-point range, have multiple starters in foul trouble and can’t get stops. Ohio State led 19-17 but West Virginia scored on five straight possessions and seven of eight to steadily build its lead.
After losing at Pitt on Nov. 28 and at home to No. 13 Illinois on Dec. 9, the Buckeyes’ early-season resume can’t afford a loss to a West Virginia team ranked No. 71 at KenPom.com.
Someone will have to get going offensively in the second half for the Buckeyes to have any chance of pulling off the comeback.
Taison Chatman’s 3-point play with 9:35 left in the first half gave the Buckeyes a 19-17 lead, but they would not score again until Devin Royal’s putback with 4:29 left. In between, the Mountaineers scored 11 straight points and built a 28-19 lead.
West Virginia scored on five straight possessions, the last two of which were wide-open 3-pointers, and leads 28-21 with 3:34 left in the first half.
The Buckeyes’ high-powered offense has largely been held in check through the early going. West Virginia and Ohio State are tied at 19 with 7:47 to play in the half.
West Virginia is 0-3 when allowing an adjusted offensive efficiency of 95.7 points per 100 possessions or higher. Ohio State has been higher than that mark in all nine of its games so far.
The redshirt sophomore guard hadn’t seen game action since the Nov. 25 win against Mount St. Mary’s and was a healthy scratch in each of the last two games, but he subbed in near the midpoint of the first half against the Mountaineers and connected on a three-point play for his first points since that game.
For the first time since suffering an ankle injury at Pitt, John Mobley Jr. looks like himself again. He swished two free throws, breaking a stretch of going 2 for 8 from the line, and he’s buried two 3-pointers to give him 8 points.
Ohio State leads 16-14 with 10:27 left in the half. The have forced three West Virginia turnovers and are winning the rebounding battle 10-7.
Ohio State guard Gabe Cupps subbed in early and picked up a foul on consecutive defensive possessions, sending him back to the bench and bringing Colin White into the game.
Ohio State leads 11-9 with 12:57 to play in the first.
Taking care of the the ball was emphasized as a major key for the Buckeyes leading into this game, but Ohio State has three turnovers on its first eight possessions and trails the Mountaineers 8-5 at the first media timeout.
Listen to the reaction to the introduction of the two teams.
Here are tonight’s starters:
Ohio State: Bruce Thornton, John Mobley Jr., Devin Royal, Brandon Noel, Christoph Tilly
West Virginia: Honor Huff, Jasper Floyd, Brenen Lorient, Treysen Eaglestaff, Harlan Obioha
A few minutes after Ohio took down St. Bonaventure 88-83 in overtime, Ohio State’s players are on the court with an expected tip time of 8:01 p.m.
Dispatch writer Adam Jardy’s pregame thoughts for Ohio State-West Virginia
Columbus Dispatch men’s basketball beat writer Adam Jardy shares his pregame thoughts before Ohio State plays West Virginia in Cleveland’s Rocket Arena.
Ohio State’s game against West Virginia, as well as the Ohio-St. Bonaventure game currently being played as paert of the doubleheader, will only feature fans in the lower bowl of the arena. The upper section of Rocket Arena is covered by a black curtain.
No surprises on the official availability report for Ohio State. Josh Ojianwuna remains out as he continues to recover from knee surgery, and Myles Herro is redshirting, but otherwise everyone is available.
Ohio State vs West Virginia score updates
This section will be updated when the game begins.
- Date: Saturday, Dec. 13
- Start time: 8 p.m. ET
The Ohio State vs West Virginia game starts at 8 p.m. from Rocket Arena in Cleveland.
- TV Channel: ESPNU
- Livestream: ESPN+
- Radio: WBNS-FM (97.1)
Ohio State vs. West Virginia will air nationally on ESPNU. John Schriffen and King McClure will call the game. Streaming options for the game include Sling, which offers a free trial to new subscribers.
Stream Ohio State vs. West Virginia
- Series record: Ohio State leads, 10-8
- Ohio State’s last win: Dec. 30, 2023 (78-75, OT, in Cleveland)
- West Virginia’s last win: Dec. 29, 2019 (67-59, in Cleveland)
Odds courtesy of BetMGM as of Friday, Dec. 12
Spread: Ohio State by 3.5
Over/under: 144.5
Moneyline: Ohio State (-190); West Virginia (+155)
Ohio State men’s basketball schedule
- Oct. 26 – Ohio University (exhibition) W, 103-74 (takeaways)
- Nov. 3 – IU Indy, W, 118-102 (takeaways)
- Nov. 7 – Purdue Fort Wayne, W, 94-68 (takeaways)
- Nov. 11 – Appalachian State, W 75-53 (takeaways)
- Nov. 16 – Notre Dame, W 64-63 (takeaways)
- Nov. 20 – Western Michigan W, 91-58 (takeaways)
- Nov. 25 – Mount St. Mary’s W, 113-60 (takeaways)
- Nov. 28 – at Pitt L, 67-66 (takeaways)
- Dec. 6 – at Northwestern W, 86-82 (takeaways)
- Dec. 9 – Illinois L, 88-80 (takeaways)
- Dec. 13 – vs. West Virginia (Cleveland Hoops Showdown, Cleveland)
- Dec. 20 – vs. North Carolina (CBS Sports Classic, Atlanta)
- Dec. 23 – Grambling State
- Jan. 2 – at Rutgers
- Jan. 5 – Nebraska
- Jan. 8 – at Oregon
- Jan. 11 – at Washington
- Jan. 17 – UCLA
- Jan. 20 – Minnesota
- Jan. 23 – at Michigan
- Jan. 26 – Penn State
- Jan. 31 – at Wisconsin
- Feb. 5 – at Maryland
- Feb. 8 – Michigan
- Feb. 11 – USC
- Feb. 14 – vs. Virginia (Nashville Hoops Showdown, Nashville)
- Feb. 17 – Wisconsin
- Feb. 22 – at Michigan State
- Feb. 25 – at Iowa
- March 1 – Purdue
- March 4 – at Penn State
- March 7 – Indiana
Buy Ohio State vs. West Virginia men’s basketball tickets
Ohio State men’s basketball beat writer Adam Jardy can be reached at ajardy@dispatch.com, on Bluesky at @cdadamjardy.bsky.social or on Twitter at @AdamJardy.
Virginia
Snow expected tonight across DC, Maryland, Virginia: Forecast, totals, winter weather alerts
WASHINGTON, D.C. – A quick-moving winter storm will likely bring the first meaningful snowfall of the season to the D.C. region tonight, with slippery travel expected overnight into early Sunday as temperatures stay cold enough for snow to stick.
What we know:
The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Weather Advisory for Washington, D.C., central and northern Maryland and northern Virginia from 8 p.m. tonight through 7 a.m. Sunday.
Forecasts call for:
- 1 to 3 inches of snow for much of the Washington–Baltimore region
- 4 to 5 inches possible in parts of Baltimore County and northeastern Maryland
- A brief period of rain at the start in some spots before quickly changing to snow
Meteorologists say a narrow band of heavier snow could set up late tonight, briefly dropping visibility to less than half a mile and allowing snow to pile up faster.
Snow totals and impacts
Once the precipitation turns fully to snow, travel may become slippery across the region.
Expected snowfall amounts:
- D.C. metro: 1–3 inches
- Montgomery and Prince George’s counties: 1–3 inches
- Howard and Anne Arundel counties: 1–3 inches
- Baltimore region: 2–4 inches, with isolated 5-inch totals
- Northern Virginia (Fairfax, Arlington, Alexandria): 1–3 inches
Temperatures fall into the upper 20s and low 30s, helping the snow accumulate on untreated roads, sidewalks and bridges.
Why this storm matters
This system marks the first snow of the season that will actually stick for the D.C. area. The storm arrives as yet another blast of Arctic air drops into the Mid-Atlantic.
According to the FOX Forecast Center, the weakening of the polar vortex is allowing cold air to spill south, setting the stage for any moisture tonight to fall as snow.
What’s next
Snow is expected to taper off by mid to late Sunday morning. A Gale Warning is also in effect for the Chesapeake Bay and tidal Potomac starting Sunday morning, and wind chills near 0°F are possible late Sunday night into Monday.
Residents should monitor local forecasts and plan for slower travel overnight and early Sunday.
The Source: This story is based on forecasts and advisories from the National Weather Service Baltimore/Washington and the FOX Forecast Center.
Worshippers assaulted outside of Virginia mosque
A Virginia doctor has been arrested and charged with attacking a Fairfax County mosque as worshipers were leaving prayer. The mosque says it’s the second time the man has attacked the same mosque.
FAIRFAX, Va. – Community members are calling for the man accused of attacking a Muslim community center in Virginia to be charged with hate crimes after he was recently arrested. The mosque says the man has attacked its members multiple times.
Virginia mosque attack
What we know:
The latest attack happened on Nov. 28, at the Dar Al Nur Community Center in Fairfax County. In security footage shared by the mosque, a man can be seen berating a group of women leaving prayer. When they see the man, they run back through the door and threaten to call the police.
The man is then seen swatting at the camera, while shouting, “F—ing Muslims! Get the f— out of here!”
Police arrested Dr. Tony Hsiao shortly after the incident, charging him with assault, trespassing and destruction of property. Hsiao was arrested last year on similar charges.
What they’re saying:
Hsiao has not been charged with a hate crime, and advocates say that’s unacceptable.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) called pubically Friday for state and federal officials to charge Hsiao with a hate crime.
“[F]ederal authorities must hold him fully accountable by filing hate crime charges,” CAIR attorney Ahmad Kaki said in a statement. “no one should be able to get away with repeatedly attacking the same house of worship. We must send a message that all faiths are welcome and safe in Fairfax County and throughout our nation.”
The Source: Information in this story is from the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Fairfax County Police Department.
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