Girls Basketball Blowout: Coach Suspended For 161-2 High School Game

The coach of a California High School girls basketball team was suspended after a 161-2 blowout victory landed him in hot water, but is it fair?

When the Arroyo Valley High School girls basketball team in San Bernardino, California, played the Bloomington High School team, most expected the former to take the game. After all, Bloomington had not won a single game in the season. However, few expected the victory to be so lopsided, and many took offense at the humiliating score of 161-2.

Now, Arroyo Valley’s school board has suspended coach Michael Anderson for two games for the January 5 blowout, but is this action going too far?

In this case, the girls basketball team blowout resulted in the humiliation of the opponents, but that was not the coach’s intention, according to an article in the Daily Bulletin. Anderson says he expected to win, but didn’t think the other team would lose by such a wide margin.

“I didn’t expect them to be that bad. I’m not trying to embarrass anybody. And I didn’t expect my bench to play that well. I had one (bench) player make eight of nine 3s (three pointers).”

This is not the only occasion in which a girls basketball blowout has come under fire. As the Inquisitr reported earlier this week, another coach in the Midwest landed in hot water for a 125-13 victory, even though she said she pulled her starters to give the other team a break.

Anderson’s suspension begs the question, how much is too much in high school girls basketball? Many argue that it’s not the winner’s fault if they are better than another team, and the humiliation gives the losing team character and allows them to learn from the poor performance.

Despite Anderson’s explanation, Blommington’s coach, Dale Chung, didn’t see it that way.

“People shouldn’t feel sorry for my team. They should feel sorry for his (Anderson’s) team, which isn’t learning the game the right way.”

Chung was stunned to see the Arroyo Valley basketball team use a full-court trap for the entire first half, which resulted in a 104-1 halftime score. The same tactic was implemented by Anderson during the second half.

“I’ve known (Anderson) for about seven years,” Chung said. “He’s a great Xs and Os coach. Ethically? Not so much. He knows what he did was wrong.”

Anderson explained he talked to officials at the end of the third quarter to implement a running clock, however, girls basketball high school rules prevent teams from doing so until the fourth quarter. The Arroyo Valley coach says he pulled his starters at the half and instructed his players not to shoot until the clock was at seven seconds in the second part of the game.

“It wasn’t a good feeling (afterward),” Anderson told the Orange County Register. “It’s not something I’m proud of. It’s not something I would put on a mantel.”

The Arroyo Valley team has played one game without their coach and won against Indian Springs High School 80-19 on January 14. The Hawks were coached by Anderson’s 19-year-old son, Nicholas.

Do you think it’s fair that this coach was suspended after his girls basketball team blowout?

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