A high school girls basketball coach in California has been suspended for a rare reason: Winning by too large a margin. Arroyo Valley's Michael Anderson kept his foot on the gas pedal even as his team went up by 60 early in the game against a winless opponent.
The end result was brutal: A 161-2 beatdown.
Decisive as it might be, it was far from impressive. The coach was called by the school's athletic director and later told The Riverside Press-Enterprise that he had been suspended two games for what had happened.
The coach also expressed regret for his actions while suggesting that he didn't expect the game to get so far out of hand -- when he put in his bench players in the second half, he was surprised by their output.
Arroyo Valley applied a high-pressure full-court trap throughout the first half, ostensibly under the pretense of tuning up for tougher competition down the road. By halftime, the score was 104-1.
Nevertheless, the opposing team's coach was not happy with the result, and he made sure his opinions were known. He called the ethics of Anderson into question.
"People shouldn’t feel sorry for my team," opposing coach Dale Chung of Bloomington High told The Sporting News. "They should feel sorry for his (Anderson’s) team, which isn’t learning the game the right way."
The Press-Enterprise reported that Arroyo Valley won its first game without Anderson. It was also a blowout -- 80-19 over San Bernardino Indian Springs -- but not the extent of the one against Bloomington that triggered the uproar.
