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Northville High School in Fulton County, N.Y. has fired girls basketball coach Jim Zullo over an incident in which he grabbed a player by her ponytail following the team's loss to La Fargeville in the Class D state championship. Zullo, 81, has also been cited for a misdemeanor charge of second-degree harassment.

According to reports by WNYT and News10, senior Hailey Monroe had been upset and crying following the loss, and allegedly uttered an expletive towards Zullo as he told her to go shake hands with the opposing team. Zullo responded by yanking on Monroe's ponytail and appeared to begin scolding her as another player, identified as Zullo's niece Ahmya Tompkins, stepped in to try and break up the dispute.

The exchange was captured on the National Federation of State High School Association's livestream of the game, leading the Northville Central School District to fire Zullo and issue a statement condemning his behavior.

"The Northville Central School District is aware of, and deeply disturbed by, the conduct of the Coach of the Girls' Varsity basketball team during the Class D New York State championship game," the district said. "We hold our coaches to the highest standards of professionalism, sportsmanship, and respect for our student-athletes, and this behavior is completely unacceptable.

"The District is committed to ensuring that this type of behavior has no place within our programs, and we will continue to uphold the values of respect and integrity that our athletes, families and community expect and deserve. This individual will no longer be coaching for the Northville Central School District."

Zullo -- who had come out of retirement in 2023 after a state Hall of Fame career that saw him win a state title at Shenendehowa in 1987 -- later issued a public apology to News10. In two seasons since coming out of retirement, Zullo had led Northville to the state championship game both years.

"I deeply regret my behavior following the loss to La Fargeville Friday night in the Class D state championship game," read Zullo's statement. "I want to offer my sincerest apologies to Hailey and her family, our team, the good folks at Northville Central Schools and our community. As a coach, under no circumstance is it acceptable to put my hands on a player, and I am truly sorry,

"I wish I could have those moments back. I am grateful for the opportunity to have coached girls basketball at Northville the past two years, especially last season, which was a difficult time for our family. I am super proud of every one of these young women and what they accomplished. I know each of them will go on to do great things and I wish them well."

The incident is under investigation Hudson Valley Community College, where the game was played, as well as local law enforcement. As part of the harassment complaint against him, Zullo has received a ticket to appear in court.