Columnist Ron Kantowski: Checking the records for a score worse than 88-3

Saturday, Dec. 17, 2005 | 7:52 a.m.

Editor's note: Ron Kantowski's sports column appears on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Today he writes a bonus column.

Too bad it's not possible to quit while you're ahead. It sure would have saved me from making a lot of phone calls Thursday.

Bishop Gorman's 88-3 victory over Valley High in a girls basketball game had me calling all over the country to determine if there had ever been a shutout in an organized basketball game.

After the Vikings took a 3-2 lead, it was all Gaels. Literally all Gaels. Bishop Gorman scored the next 86 points.

Although the thought of a basketball team going scoreless is nearly inconceivable, that's what would have happened had Valley's Delicia Williams not made a three-point basket to give her team the briefest of leads.

Valley coach Barney Holmes called a timeout. Not to discuss strategy, but to figure out how to make an early exit without anybody noticing.

"I was thinking about not letting them go back on the court," Holmes said, fearing that something bad was about to happen to his girls against Gorman, the state's top-rated team.

Say this about Holmes' clairvoyant skills: They are amazingly keen. Nostradamus would be impressed.

That timeout apparently gave the Gaels time to regroup. And then some. And then some more.

That Gorman scored 86 consecutive points boggles the mind. Think about it. If you and Julio went down to the school yard, and Julio went home early, it would still take you a minimum of 43 shots to accomplish what the Gaels did.

It was the mother of all scoring runs. Queen Kong in high-tops. Not even Dick Vitale has a catch-phrase to describe an 86-0 run.

What's scary is that it might have been even worse had the coaches not agreed to leave the clock running during free throws and out-of-bounds plays after halftime.

The Gaels were actually the second Nevada team to flirt with a shutout this year. Earlier this month, the Austin boys beat Gabbs 51-2 in a 1A game.

Bishop Gorman athletic director Kevin Hickman said he could sympathize with the Valley girls. He said he didn't sense that the Gaels were running up the score, although Holmes, who said Gorman continued to press, wasn't sure about that.

"They had plenty of opportunities to score, the ball just didn't go in," Hickman said in a late entry for understatement of the year.

It was 34-3 after the first quarter and 55-3 at halftime as Gorman substituted freely but kept scoring.

"Our biggest girl was 5-8. Their shortest was 5-9," Holmes said.

Both teams were operating shorthanded -- one more than the other, obviously.

Shevonne Butler, Valley's best player, was sick and did not play. Gorman coach Sheryl Krmpotich also was ill and turned the team over to her assistant, Mike Carter.

Can you say Wally Pipp?

Valley is 1-6 this year, but until being hit hard by graduation, the Vikings were one of the city's best teams. Last year they made the state playoffs with an 18-4 record.

After the game, Holmes, who took the loss in stride, told his young players to keep their chins up.

"I told them that it was nothing but a score," he said. "It's not a defeat. A defeat is something that is in your mind and in your heart."

That's something I plan to ask the Washington Generals about if they ever call back.

Ron Kantowski can be reached at 259-4088 or at ron@lasvegassun.com.