School forced to apologize after 93-7 basketball blowout
In high school sports, where the ability level ranges from questionable to ridiculously talented, it’s not uncommon for there to be blowouts.
The simple fact of the matter is that sometimes, one team is just better, with luck and geographical placement representing two of just many, many possible explanations.
What isn’t common is for the margin of victory in a basketball game to be 86 points. But that’s exactly what happened last week during a state sectional girls basketball tournament in Massachusetts.
On Wednesday, the girls team from East Bridgewater High School’s absolutely demolished the opposition — Madison Park — by a final score of 93-7.
The margin of victory was so high that East Bridgewater Superintendent of Schools Elizabeth Legault was forced to apologize. As noted by Yahoo Sports, the winning team kept playing their starters late in the game and continued to run up the score.
But the end result of the contest was never really in doubt, as East Bridgewater had a 24-0 lead after the first quarter.
Calling what happened an “unfortunate situation,” Legault told The Enterprise — a local newspaper in area — that it was “not a reflection of our student body or our athletic program.”
“The two teams were ready and excited for playoffs, and the two schools were not matched up as well as they should be it seemed,” she said.
Though Legault said she was glad her team was competing in the tournament, she recognized that such a blowout isn’t fun for anyone involved.
“(N)o one likes that type of score. I’m hoping this game will bring a thoughtful reflection from our program leaders,” she stated. Legault said that the school’s athletic director, Patrick Leonard, spoke with coach Andrew MacDonald. However, the Enterprise’s efforts to reach Leonard and MacDonald were unsuccessful.
Throughout the game, meanwhile, it was clear to everyone, from the players to the announcers, who would win.
“This can be over and done by just the first quarter,” one of the game’s play-by-play announcers said. After Madison Park’s disastrous first quarter, they did play better in the second period, but not by much.
At halftime, the score was 48-4.
“The defense is just vicious,” said the announcer, who was calling the game for East Bridgewater Community Access Media. “This is a tough game. Team Rowdy (East Bridgewater’s fan base) is even over there feeling sympathetic.”
Despite their huge lead, East Bridgewater did not take their foot of the gas in the second half. Even in the last minutes of the game, the team kept some of their starters on the court.
And as the final buzzer sounded, putting an end to the whole dreadful affair, an East Bridgewater player sank a three-pointer.
Not a great look for a team already up by more than 80 points.
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