From New York Times

LOWELL, Mass. — Pericles Clergeau, a tall, sturdy teenager with a troubled past, did not much like it when Kevin Allard, a radiant, sometimes manic youth, arrived at Adolescent Unit 2 at the Westborough state psychiatric hospital early last year.

“He was like the alpha male of the place, and I was the competition,” Mr. Allard said. “It was his turf, and I was mowing the lawn.”

On Feb. 3, 2010, the two 18-year-olds faced off in a basketball game called Taps, where one player can send the other’s score plummeting to zero by tapping in a rebound. The game was close and tense, and the verbal sparring kept escalating, too. Mr. Clergeau was near 21 points when a swish by Mr. Allard derailed him.

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