Alabama HS Game Ends with Final Score of 2-0

When it comes to final scores in high school games, controversy usually revolves around one team running the score on its opponent, in what was clearly a lopsided match-up to begin with, and ultimately questions of sportsmanship derive from it.

But this time is the complete opposite. Like, not scoring enough. Like, only scoring one basket while the other team doesn’t score at all. Like, one team stalling with the ball throughout the game.

That’s exactly what happened last weekend during a high school game between two teams in Alabama.

The fact that it’s 2015 and many state athletic associations still haven’t implemented a shot clock is mind-boggling.

How it all happened, from the Tuscaloosa News:

Saturday night’s high school basketball game between Bibb County and Brookwood came down to one shot.

 

And it happened in the first 15 seconds of the opening possession.

 

Two passes and one missed 3-point attempt later, Bibb County’s Brandon Rutledge scored off a rebound.

 

The remaining 31-plus minutes of play were scoreless, and Bibb County improved to 22-9 with an unusual 2-0 victory.

 

According to the National Federation of State High School Associations, it was the lowest-scoring game since Durham Hillside (N.C.) defeated Roxboro Person (N.C.), 2-0, in 1977.

[…]

 

“It was not my intention to go into that game and stall,” Fitzpatrick said. “The intention was to get as much rest as we can offensively, and do whatever we needed to do defensively. It was our fourth game of the week, and on Friday night we started cramping a lot, so I made the decision. We played earlier in the year and won, and I just decided we were going to try and slow down the offense, and on defense just guard like we normally do.”

 

After Rutledge scored the lone basket of the evening, the Panthers held the ball for the remainder of the first quarter, and missed a shot at the buzzer.

 

“They came across half court and kept everything really spread out to force us to extend our zone,” Wallace said. “The first couple of minutes, even with us extending it, they were passing it around the perimeter, so I backed the kids up on defense, and they just stood there and held it.”