Player Benched When Ice Rescue Causes Him To Miss Team bus

CLAYTON, N.Y. (AP) — A New York high school basketball player who helped rescue an ice fisherman from Lake Ontario was kept from suiting up for a game because the heroics caused him to miss the team bus.

WWNY-TV reports Lucas Patchen was among the volunteer firefighters in Clayton who rescued a stranded fisherman from a drifting ice slab Saturday.

He missed the Thousand Islands High School team's departure for a road playoff game later that day.

The school requires that any player not riding on a team bus call the coach or athletic director. The teen says he was unable to call while the rescue was underway.

Thousand Islands Superintendent Michael Bashaw says the district is proud of Patchen, but that the student knew the policy. But Bashaw also says he's willing to consider changing the rule.