Teen girl concussed after brutal basketball attack

A disturbing cheap shot during a California basketball game left a teen girl concussed and her mother “in shock.”

At an event in Southern California, 15-year-old Lauryn Ham was sucker-punched by one of her opponents. According to her mother, she’s still recovering from the brutal punch over the weekend.

“Of course I was in total shock,” the victim’s mother, Alice Ham, told ABC7. “Just couldn’t believe that could happen to my child.”

Ham said her daughter was disoriented when she came home after the game.

“The person in question went down the court and shot a 3-pointer, landed, fell backwards into my daughter,” Ham said. “As they got up and turned and were walking back down to the other side of the court, her mom says to her, ‘You need to hit her for that.’ And the child in question sucker-punched my daughter.”

Ham told the outlet that she filed a police report, and that she felt “it rises to the level of assault, the way that she does it with such intent and brutal force.”

The mother says her daughter is still feeling the effects days after the incident, unable to attend school or maintain focus.

“You always see things on video and you never think it could happen to you,” Ham said. “To actually see it and know that was my kid just hurt me so bad.”

The family of the girl who threw the punch has retained an attorney.

“We’re very sorry … we want everybody to feel safe. We want everyone to feel secure,” Gary Thomas, CEO of Avac United, the group that hosted the event told KTLA. “This is an environment where kids should have fun and enjoy and be safe.”