There are blowouts and there are shutouts and there are blowout shutouts, and then there’s what happened to the girls’ basketball team at Brockton (Mont.) High School on Friday.
Final score for the girls basketball game against Brockton tonight pic.twitter.com/n99bRcMu39
— christopher j ator (@bigskylightning) December 2, 2017
For various reasons, including illness, Brockton was left with only five players to start their first game of the 2017-18 campaign, according to the Great Falls Tribune. “We had one eighth-grader, a first-year freshman and three sophomores. One sophomore was playing for the first time since sixth grade, the freshman had never really played ball until this year,” said head coach Terrence Johnson. “The ones who couldn’t play were my upperclassmen; my ball handlers.”
That’s not a recipe for a winning hoops team, and as the final buzzer sounded, that was reflected on the scoreboard. Brockton had lost to the visiting Froid-Medicine Lake Redhawks by a score of 102-0.
For their part, the Redhawks boast much more experienced and much taller roster, with three members of the team standing 6 feet or taller.
“We spent two weeks getting ready for this game, but when we got down to five players, all our plans went right out the window,” Johnson said.
To make matters worse, one of the sophomore players on Brockton turned an ankle early in the second half, which was played with a running clock. Another Brockton player was injured in the game’s final 10 seconds.
Froid-Medicine Lake coach Lance Brekke told the Tribune that he felt bad, but wasn’t sure if he personally could have stopped the game as it got out of hand.
For Brockton’s part, Johnson said his team was still in high spirits. “They did nothing wrong. At the end of the day, they all went home and asked: ‘What’s for dinner, Mom?’ “
Montana High School Association executive director Mark Beckman told the Tribune that scores like that sometimes do happen in the state. “A lot of schools, especially Class C, have a difficult time putting five players out on the floor,” he said. “As a rule, our schools have always acted in the best interest of sportsmanship and fair play. Usually, they do everything possible to not score in these instances.”
Beckman said the association will investigate the matter and respond accordingly.
