PORTSMOUTH, Va. — It’s the headline putting Portsmouth on the national map.
“I really thought it was a joke," Churchland resident Gregory Bell II said.
A Junior Varsity girl's basketball game between Churchland and Nansemond River High Schools from January is now viral, not because of the play on the court but who’s playing in it.
Jahmal Street and Arlisha Boykins -- the head coach and an assistant of the JV girl's basketball team at Churchland, respectively -- are no longer with the Portsmouth Public Schools division after Boykins pretended to be a student-athlete during the game.
Bell referees high school games in his spare time and heard about the coach’s play before it became a story that circulated national headlines.
"I was like, ‘No... that’s not real'. And he said, ‘No, I'm serious,'" Bell said.
It's the story Portsmouth residents know well and are still buzzing about.
"The wildest things that could happen, happen in Portsmouth," Portsmouth native Edinburgh Williams said.
"When you hear about an adult impeding on an event where kids are taking place, that’s not fair to them," Bell added.
Virginia High School League officials tell 13News Now it’s the second time in seven years where a situation of a coach impersonating a student-athlete has taken place. The VHSL added there are no plans to change any rules or regulations because of this latest instance.
Churchland’s Athletic Director told 13News Now he’s deferring all comments to the spokesperson for PPS.
"You don’t want it to be known for something like this, especially on a national level," Bell said.