{
  "$type": "site.standard.document",
  "bskyPostRef": {
    "cid": "bafyreibakkjtthcoop5rcnex32xff2dljohz55bwl75fbcudwoszv2eaku",
    "uri": "at://did:plc:ynwa33gtvzflpay5wzazrv2i/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlizhcfafoj2"
  },
  "coverImage": {
    "$type": "blob",
    "ref": {
      "$link": "bafkreic44c76rj5hrkw7dgy4h4rpfun56as4tue7dgctsuic46mafmjaka"
    },
    "mimeType": "image/jpeg",
    "size": 63349
  },
  "path": "/utah/2026/05/09/church-ball-prison-riot/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-05-10T02:00:00.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.deseret.com",
  "tags": [
    "Feb. 18, 1957 Life Magazine article reported.",
    "High tops, trophies & good times: Brigham City man recalls church basketball March Madness",
    "In his book “Utah Politics: Principles, Theories and Rules of the Game,” Jon Cox offered this punchline:",
    "the Deseret News reported."
  ],
  "textContent": "If you’re an over-35 Latter-day Saint church ball veteran, you can likely tell a few tales about that cultural phenomenon that spawned the phrase, “The brawl that begins with a prayer.”\n\nBut can your own wacky church ball stories match the hardcourt adventures of the 1957 Granger 2nd Ward M-Men’s squad?\n\nOn Wednesday, Feb. 6, 1957, the Granger 2nd Ward hoopsters were playing a game when an unconventional “timeout” actually forced Utah Gov. George Clyde and dozens of police officers into action.\n\nIt snagged national headlines and was even covered by the iconic Life Magazine.\n\nThat attention-grabbing church ball basketball contest began, typically, with a jump ball.\n\nNothing else that night could be called typical.\n\nFor starters, the Granger 2nd Ward wasn’t playing at the local stake center or even against another ward. Their venue that night was an indoor basketball court at the Utah State Prison. Their opponents: a squad of inmates.\n\nThe church ballers were leading their incarcerated rivals 49-37 when a prisoner halted the game, shouting: “This joint’s been taken over by the convicts!” the Feb. 18, 1957 Life Magazine article reported.\n\nHigh tops, trophies & good times: Brigham City man recalls church basketball March Madness\n\nThe inmates took the Granger 2nd Ward players hostage “and for 12 riotous hours, with weapons wrested from guards, roamed through the cell blocks, smashing windows and drinking the dispensary’s rubbing alcohol.”\n\nIn his book “Utah Politics: Principles, Theories and Rules of the Game,” Jon Cox offered this punchline: “The irony is not lost on Utahns that the biggest riot in state history would take place in the middle of a church basketball game.”\n\n### Goofballs, mayhem and drinking\n\nIt is tempting to guess the church-ball-game-turned-prison-riot was triggered by shoddy refereeing and maybe a few reckless elbows.\n\n“In fact, the prisoners’ demands were fairly routine: Better food (“No more cold potatoes!”). A new parole board. And a hobby shop.”\n\nThe inmates launched their 12-hour prison riot around 6 p.m., grabbed dozens of hostages and “wrought damage from one end of the institution to another,” the Deseret News reported.\n\nMayhem defined the night, as colorfully described by one inmate: “Once the riot got going it got out of hand. The guys started drinking alcohol and taking goofballs and happy pills. Some of them got high and tore the place up.”\n\nAnarchy ensued. A corrections officer was reportedly stabbed when he attempted to prevent the inmates from taking over the prison. He would recover from his injuries.\n\nAnd what of the Granger 2nd Ward basketball bunch?\n\n“The inmates later bragged that they treated the hostages extremely well — giving them food, television, and chess for entertainment,” according to the Deseret News. “When released, the 29 hostages verified the prisoners’ claims.”\n\n### Live television captures riot\n\n“The Great Church Ball/Utah Prison Melee of 1957” happened at a time when live television news coverage was taking its maiden steps.\n\nIn 2019, veteran Utah television reporter Craig Wirth dug up decades-old live TV coverage of the riot — filing a “this-actually-happened” story about the oddest 12 hours in Latter-day Saint church ball lore.\n\nRioters were actually at the news broadcast mic — “Cue the prisoners” — airing their grievances during the live coverage of the ongoing riot.\n\n“The other night we ran out of potatoes — we had to serve cold potatoes on the mainline for the fellas,” said an inmate who worked in the prison kitchen.\n\nOnce order was restored, Gov. Clyde formed a bipartisan committee to investigate conditions at the Utah State Prison, discuss inmate grievances and review criminal evidence following what was called “the worst riot in the institution’s history.”\n\nThe Granger 2nd Ward hoopsters returned to their homes with tales to tell — and bragging rights. The church ball team was winning when its game was interrupted by a prison riot.\n\nThere was no rematch.",
  "title": "Replaying the Utah church ball game that ended in a prison riot — literally"
}