Duly Noted

Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2005 | 9:30 a.m.

NO BASKETS CASE

Yes Virginia, there has been a shutout in an organized basketball game. But it didn't happen there.

My column on Bishop Gorman's 88-3 girls basketball victory over Valley High produced a lot of feedback about similar blowouts. Las Vegas Wranglers general manager Billy Johnson e-mailed to say he was watching a tech story on CNN when he noticed a sports ticker on the bottom of the screen that read: Arlington Oakridge 103, Duncanville Christway 0.

Sure enough it did happen, in a girls' high school basketball game in Texas in 1998.

A story in the Corpus Christi Caller Times, quoting longtime high school record keeper Doug Huff, also reported a 148-0 girls' basketball victory by Meriden Washington (Conn.) against South Norwalk in 1924 and two 106-0 routs, one in Ohio in 1972 (Logan over Sugar Grove) and one in Oklahoma in 1931 (Alluwe over Chelsea).

In boys' basketball, Shinnston High in West Virginia blanked Weirton 136-0 in 1918.

I also heard from Boulder City resident John Dillon, who witnessed a boys shutout in 1956 when Villa, Wash., whitewashed archrival Granger.

The score was 7-0. That was in the days before the shot clock and Granger didn't take very many.

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SMALL POTATOES

In the past week, our city has hosted two national ping-pong -- er, table tennis -- championships, college wrestling and basketball tournaments featuring NCAA Division III schools and the national juggling championships. Next month, the U.S. Table Hockey Association will hold an event at Paris Las Vegas.

Who says Las Vegas isn't a major league city?

On second thought, maybe we should pursue the Marlins, before the Plate Spinners of America and the Full Contact Slinky Tour get any bright ideas about moving their championships here.

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HAVE GOON, WILL TRAVEL

If he doesn't watch out, former Wranglers bad boy Billy Tibbetts is going to become minor league hockey's answer to Paul Assenmacher.

Assenmacher pitched in the big leagues for (small) parts of 14 seasons, primarily because as left-handed relief pitcher, he had an uncanny knack for getting one left-handed batter out.

Tibbetts this month signed with his fifth American Hockey League team, the Chicago Wolves, primarily because as a goon on the checking line, he has an uncanny knack for getting one high-scoring opponent knocked out with a body check.

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UNLV's ranking among 123 NCAA Division I-A football schools in percentage of tickets sold this year.

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Wranglers goalie Mike McKenna's unbeaten streak heading into today's midnight game against Long Beach.

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Gary Shaw, promoter of Las Vegas boxer Diego Corrales:

"(Jose Luis Castillo) will be able to take a picture of the back of my sweatsuit as I board the plane."

reiterating that if Castillo doesn't make weight in El Paso, Texas, on Feb. 4, there won't be a third fight between the fierce rivals.