Top 20 high school sports stories from 2012-13

With more than 25,000 high schools in the United States, playing more than 20 sports each, the potential for compelling stories over 365 days is great.

Narrowing them to the Top 20 is a monumental and imprecise task, but here's our best shot for the top stories of the 2012-13 high school sports year.

1. Derrick Henry would be king Overload right, 24 blast. That was the play call for Derrick Henry to secure a first down for Yulee (Fla.) High School early in the second quarter on Nov. 16, 2012.

Turned out, it was the call and the play that secured history.



For 59 years, hundreds of thousands of prep running backs from every corner of the country have tried to run down Sugarland, Texas legend Ken Hall and finally after the 1,257th carry of his high school career, the 6-foot-3, 240-pound senior manchild they call "Shocka" passed him.

In vintage Henry form, the Alabama recruit broke past two perfectly-positioned would be tacklers, stiff-armed another and sprinted the final 40 yards untouched completing a 52-yard touchdown run with 11 minutes, 16 seconds left in the second quarter that broke the national career rushing yardage record during a 41-26 Florida 4A first-round playoff win Friday night.

At 7:46 p.m., on a cool and breezy 50-degree night on the Northern tip of Florida, just outside of Jacksonville, 11 miles south of the Georgia border, 839 miles east of Sugarland, and once a stratosphere from reality, a new rushing king was crowned. Hall's magical landmark total of 11,232 yards set from 1950 to 1953 went poof.

When asked what went through his mind when he crossed the goal line, Henry, a thoughtful, humble sort, took a big giant sigh.

"It's over," said Henry after the game while surrounded by reporters, fans, friends and family. "I was happy to get it and to get a little rest. But I knew I had to get out there and help my teammates win a game."

That night, he carried the ball a Florida-record 57 times for 485 yards — 20 short of the state mark — and six touchdowns. He went on to carry 462 times for 4,261 yards and 55 touchdowns in 2012 — all state records — leading Yulee to a 9-4 record and into the 4A semifinals.



For his career, he carried 1,387 times for 12,122 yards and 153 yards. According to the NFHS record book, the carries and yards are national records. His rushing touchdowns rank fifth.

Henry's run for the record was not only compelling from historical perspective, but he helped little Yulee get on the national map. He represented his small town well not only on the field, but with his humble and gracious responses afterward.

"It means a lot, it really does," said Henry of breaking the record. "I feel privileged and blessed and thankful. I'm just glad to be a part of history. I think Ken Hall is in a league of his own. I'm just happy my name could be placed up with his."

Read full story {PAGEBREAK} 2. John McKissick reaches 600 wins Many 86-year-old Americans are either bedridden or confined to a retirement community. The ageless John McKissick, of Summerville (S.C.), continued to set and extend the high school football coaching standard.

Three weeks before Derrick Henry broke one of the country's most coveted prep records, McKissick extended his with a 600th win, a 37-21 triumph over Ashley Ridge.

Before more than 10,000 home fans, McKissick rode the shoulders of his players after this one and he told reporters that with 18 starters scheduled to return in 2013, he has no plans to retire.



As always, he gave his players the credit for No. 600. The Green Wave went on to win the following week and he heads into 2013 with a record of 601-149-13. Second on the list is John T. Curtis Jr. (520-54-6), who led his Curtis (River Ridge, La.) team to a 14-0 record and mythical national championship.

"It feels good to win and if totals up to 600 that's great," McKissick said after the game. "I am real proud of the way our team played tonight and I am happy for my players. I have had enough recognition already for myself so I am glad to see them play well on such a big stage. I am proud of the way our players played tonight.

"They can tell their kids one day that they were part of the 600th win so I am happy for my players. Our community and school administration is real suppertime of athletics at Summerville and I am just proud to have been a part of the program for all these years."

Read full story{PAGEBREAK} 3. Lone Utah team Peaks at No. 1 in country When considering the best boys basketball teams in the country, one immediately ponders urban spots like New York City, Chicago and Detroit. Southern California, South Florida and the Dallas and Houston regions of Texas also come to mind.

But Utah? Never. 

Lone Peak (Highland, Utah), 30 miles south of Salt Lake City, changed all that with a clear and emphatic statement all season that it belonged at the top of the national rankings.

Led by MaxPreps National Coach of the Year Quincy Lewis, the Knights (26-1) became the first team from Utah to be recognized as national champions by MaxPreps in any sport.



"It's been absolutely great for our state," said Lewis. "Our governor had us up to the capitol building and proclaimed March 8 Lone Peak Basketball Day, so to say it's been big in the state of Utah is an understatement.

"I think it shows what's possible if you put a lot of work into it and have the right combination."

The Knights' balance was on display as postseason awards began to roll out in the Beehive State. BYU-bound (following a two-year mission) senior guard Nick Emery was named Mr. Basketball by the Deseret News. Junior guard T.J. Haws (also committed to BYU) earned Class 5A MVP honors. Two other future BYU Cougars in 6-foot-9 senior Eric Mika and football recruit Talon Shumway earned first team Class 5A All-State honors. Senior guard Connor Toolson was named to the second team.

But it's what Lone Peak did out of state that vaulted it to the top.

Among the biggest statements all season included an 84-46 thrashing of 22-3 Proviso East (Maywood, Ill.) in December, ending Chester's (Pa.) 61-game win streak at the City of Palms Classic and an 81-46 spanking of two-time defending California Division II state champ Archbishop Mitty (San Jose) at the Spalding Hoophall Classic in Jan.

The Knights had wins over teams from nine states on their resume and were 6-1 against teams that were ranked nationally at some point in the season.



The lone loss came in the final of the prestigious City of Palms Classic to Montverde Academy (Fla.) – the No. 1 team in MaxPreps Academy Top 10, a team not eligible for Xcellent 25 consideration.

"In the fall we set a goal to win the national championship," Lewis said. "We thought that it was possible and so whenever we're playing an in-state game our conversation was, 'We're playing for the national championship tonight,' because you lose one in-state game and it's over."

Read full story{PAGEBREAK} 4. There's no place like home for Andrew Wiggins

In undoubtedly the longest recruiting process of a major boys basketball recruit ever, Andrew Wiggins of Huntington Prep (Huntington, W. Va.) picked Kansas over Kentucky, Florida State and North Carolina on the last day of the signing period May 15.

The 6-foot-7 wing, who is considered one of the nation's best prospects since LeBron James, averaged 23.4 points and 11.1 rebounds as a senior at Huntington Prep.

"I think Wiggins single-handedly vaults Kansas from a fringe top-25 team to a legitimate Final Four threat," CBSSports.com college basketball blogger Jeff Borzello told MaxPreps. "He's going to be a preseason All-American and possibly National Player of the Year. He will be the go-to guy immediately and could approach 18-20 points per game."



Wiggins' recruitment spawned its own website, where fans could vote on where he should go (North Carolina led the way) and follow a Twitter feed devoted to mentions of him.

According to Grant Traylor of the Huntington Herald-Dispatch and Huntington Prep head coach Rob Fulford, even folks in the crab cake industry got involved.

Yes, the crab cake industry.

"Last week, we had a guy who delivers crab cakes for a living say he overheard (North Carolina coach) Roy Williams saying Andrew was going to commit to them on such-and-such date and people believed him," Fulford told the Herald-Dispatch. "So I have to respond to national media about Johnny Crabcakes as a source.

"If a guy that sells crab cakes for a living is a source for the best high school basketball player in the country, our country is in a mess."

Read full story{PAGEBREAK} 5. There's even more about Mary Cain Mary Cain had a remarkable sophomore track-and-field season. What she did for an encore was nearly beyond belief. 



The 17-year-old junior from Bronxville (N.Y.) broke the U.S. high school 5,000-meter record in the Portland Track Festival at Lewis & Clark College by finishing in 15 minutes, 45.46 seconds.

This came a week after Cain broke national high school and U.S. junior record in the 800, going 1:59.51 at the Prefontaine Classic. And that came only 15 days after she broke her own 1,500 national mark by going 4:04.62 in the USATF Oxy High Performance Meet at Occidental College in Los Angeles.

All that came after a superlative indoor track season. On Jan. 26 in New York City, she ran the indoor mile in 4:32.78, breaking a 41-year national mark by almost six seconds. It was also faster than the 1982 outdoor mark of 4:35.24 set by Polly Plumer.

On Feb. 2 at the Boston Indoor Games, she set an indoor two-mile record by going 9:38.68. On Feb. 16, she lowered her own mile mark by going 4:28.25 — a time that was the fastest by an American woman of any age during the 2013 indoor season.

Phew!

Read full story{PAGEBREAK} 6. Quadruple ambition There were truly countless inspiring stories of athletes overcoming long odds throughout the country in 2012-13. 



But then there was Josh Ruchotzke.

A quadruple amputee at the age of 13 due to streptococci bacteria, which ravaged his organs, tissues and blood flow, the senior from Farmington (Ill.) was a two-year starting second baseman for the Farmers.

In his just-completed senior year, he hit .279 with 15 RBIs (third on the team). All with two prosthetic legs above the knee, and two badly disfigured hands.

He was largely put back together, piece-by-piece, limb-by-limb, by the Denver Clinic for Extremities at Risk. The rest was up to a very athletic, determined young lad, an extremely loving and passionate family, and a highly supportive community.

"It took a lot of time and struggles to get used to all my new parts and the equipment and the prosthetics," Ruchotzke said. "It was definitely challenging. But I never really got down because I just focused on all the positives. So many people were willing to help me out so I just took advantage of it."

When he returned to the field, his dreams of playing in the major leagues had waned, so his new goal is to become a major league general manager. A straight-A student, Ruchotzke earned a scholarship to national baseball power Vanderbilt where he will serve as team manager.



"If my story can help inspire others and raise awareness then I'm more than happy to tell it," Ruchotzke said. "Honestly I've never really got down about all of it. I just try to think about all the positives, all the people who have supported me and all the resources I've been given. I just keep reminding myself that it's all going to work out for the best."

Read full story{PAGEBREAK}7. Winning and losing in Texas In the middle of one of the greatest football seasons in Coppell (Texas) history, tragedy struck when one of its best and most popular players, Jacob Logan, drowned following an afternoon of cliff diving.

Jacob's body resurfaced on Oct. 19, four days after he disappeared into Possum Kingdom Lake, leaving the then-national No. 3 team and the Coppell community in waiting and ultimately in mourning.

Jacob, a 5-foot-10, 175-pound receiver, was a Division I football prospect, a team and school leader and superb all-around athlete.

"It's like losing a son," head coach Joe McBride told MaxPreps correspondent Randy Jennings the week of Logan's disappearance. "I've been working with him his entire three and a half years in our program. He was the bell cow guy of our team, a natural leader that the other guys followed — a great young man not only on the football team, but in all aspects of life.

"Our kids have come to a place of peace. They hurt — we all hurt — but they will play with the thought of him on their mind."



On the day Logan's body was recovered, McBride tweeted: "Jacob has been found. ... Have peace and get sleep. Tomorrow the sun will be up and we WILL have a great day!"

Close friend Tyler Jones told nbcdfw.com: "He was Superman. He was the best at everything he ever did — best football player, best basketball player, best soccer player, great student."

Coppell went on to go 11-1, losing to DeSoto in the 5A-I second round. The community honored Jacob throughout the season with his No. 21 on the side of their helmets. Blue ribbons were pinned to clothing by fans everywhere in honor of Jacob's favorite team, the University of Kentucky.

Read full story{PAGEBREAK} 8. Blind leading the mind The sightless community supplied numerous inspirational tales.

The story of cross-country runner Sami Stoner (Lexington, Ohio) and her seeing-eye dog Chloe captured the country's heart in October. Her transformation to reluctant beauty queen warmed it.

The following month in Florida, Braddock (Miami) junior Davonte Pollard carried a football against rival Coral Park in what was undoubtedly the most celebrated two-yard loss in Miami-Dade county history.



In the spring, a pair of courageous pole vaulters — one in Arizona, Aria Ottmueller of Valley Christian (Chandler), and the other in Texas, Charlotte Brown of Rains (Emory) — not only competed at the sport, but each reached their respective state meet.

As an eighth-grader, Stoner was diagnosed with Stargardt's disease, a hereditary form of macular degeneration that causes irreversible blindness.

Like the others mentioned here, rather than ask "why me?" of her new life, she attacked it from a different angle and attitude. It's all a state of mind, she said.  

"Why not me?" Stoner said. "I would rather this happen to me than my sisters. Yes, it wasn't exactly my plan. It sounds sad, but I would never want to go back and erase the experience of it. I would never wish this didn't happen to me. Because, honestly, I think it's made me a better person."

Read Sami Stoner story

Read Davonte Pollard story{PAGEBREAK}9. De La Salle's Bob Ladouceur steps down Two weeks after his team finished 15-0 for the first time in his illustrious career, and three months before production started on a Hollywood movie about the program he basically started, Hall of Fame football coach Bob Ladouceur announced that he was stepping down has head coach at De La Salle (Concord, Calif.).



At 58, Ladouceur said simply, "It's the right time to go."

Fitting, because among the many traits that led Ladouceur to an unprecedented coaching career was timing. His assistants say that he seemed to call just the right play at just the right moment.

Turns out, he was also speaking about his replacement, 33-year-old Justin Alumbaugh, a former player who Ladouceur picked out 15 years ago.

"I would probably still be coaching if I didn't have the perfect guy to take over," Ladouceur said. "It was more important for me that the program stay strong than for me to hang on a few more years to coach.

"I leave absolutely with no regret. ... I'm forever grateful. It's better than I could ever wish for."

Ladouceur told a gathering of students, coaches, former and current players, fellow teachers and media on campus that after 34 seasons and 399 career wins (against 25 losses and three ties) he was ready for a break from the rigors of head coaching. He'll still coach running backs and with numerous key players back, De La Salle is No. 1 in the 2013 MaxPreps preseason Xcellent 25 rankings.



He leaves a legacy that is unmatched in California and perhaps the country. His teams have won at least eight mythical national titles, including the 2012 team that finished No. 1 in the MaxPreps computer rankings, and from 1993 to 2004 it won a national record 151 games in a row, at that time more than doubling the previous mark.

His winning percentage of 93.7 is the best in the country. Leaving one win short of 400 was indicative of his selfless nature and his attitude toward records and numbers.

"I understand the number (399) has some kind of weirdness to it. Maybe way down the road they'll think I died midseason," Ladouceur joked.

Read full story{PAGEBREAK}10. Missy Franklin finishes with flurry After winning four Olympic gold medals last summer, American swimming darling Missy Franklin finished out her prep career at Regis Jesuit (Aurora, Colo.) in style by winning two more individual titles and anchoring two relays to victory. She led the Raiders to a second straight 5A state title.

She won the 200-yard individual medley in a national record of 1:56.86 seconds, the 500 freestyle in a state record 4:41.72 and anchored the championship 200 and 400 freestyle relays.

After the state finals at the Edora Pool Ice Center, she told the Denver post: "Now, I realize why I did this. It's being with my girls for the last time. It's the very last swim with all of them and for me to have a Regis cap on my head."



Read full story{PAGEBREAK}11. Big shot



In what some felt was the most stunning end to a prep boys basketball game ever, New Rochelle (N.Y.) senior Khalil Edney made a 60-foot shot at the buzzer to win a Section 1 Class AA title in New York.

What made the shot even more remarkable is that Mt. Vernon thought it had clinched the win and was just throwing the ball into the air to celebrate.

Roll the video.

Read full story{PAGEBREAK}12. Little shot



This isn't a hoax, trick photography or April Fool's. He is 11-year-old Julian Newman, a point guard who starts for Downey Christian (Orlando, Fla.), a tiny independent school that operates outside the realm of Florida's primary governing body for high school sports — the Florida High School Athletic Association.

Tiny is the operative word for Newman, who stands only 4-foot-5, yet he led the state in assists at 10.5 per game.

Newman!

This isn't a publicity stunt, even though his exposure on MaxPreps and YouTube landed him on Conan O'Brien.

Newman is coached by his father but has earned praised from teammates and foes.

"He's a little bitty thing, but he's very talented," Crooms Academy head coach Don Smith said.



Said his father Jamie Newman: "He has a tremendous skill level. He has moves that even NBA players don't have."

Julian averaged 12.2 points, shot 49 percent from the field and 87 percent from the line. He also registered 82 rebounds (3.7 per game), 90 steals (4.1) but, believe it or not, didn't block a shot.

Read full story

{PAGEBREAK}13. Gabby Douglas wins AP Female Athlete of the Year

Two high school girls finished 1-2 in balloting for the 2012 Associated Press U.S. Female Athlete of the Year.
Gabby Douglas won top honors with 48 of 157 votes from a panel of AP sports editors throughout the U.S. A home-schooled sophomore from Virginia Beach, Va., she captured the all-around gymnastics gold medal during the 2012 London Olympics. Douglas, 16, also helped the U.S. women win the team gold medal for only the second time in history.

She was the fourth U.S. woman and the first African-American woman to win the coveted all-around Olympic gold medal.

Douglas is a native of Virginia Beach, but has been living in West Des Moines, Iowa while working with Chow Gymnastics, which also produced another standout Olympian, Shawn Johnson.



In Oct. she received the Women's Sports Foundation 2012 Sportswoman of the Year Award during the 33rd Annual Salute to Women in Sports banquet in New York City.

Douglas told the AP, "I didn't realize how much of an impact I made. My mom and everyone said, 'You really won't know the full impact until you're 30 or 40 years old.' But it's starting to sink in."

Swimmer Missy Franklin was just seven votes behind in second place.

Read full story{PAGEBREAK}14. Amputee Jacob Rainey returns to the field In a remarkable feat of determination and triumph over tragedy, Woodberry Forest (Va.) quarterback Jacob Rainey returned to the football field in a 28-19 loss to Benedictine (Richmond, Va.) in September.

Rainey, a highly-touted quarterback prospect entering last fall, broke his knee in a scrimmage on Sept. 3 of last year. A severed artery and other complications forced doctors to amputate part of his right leg.

Through a rehabilitation process that included well wishes from the likes of Tim Tebow and Nick Saban, Rainey was penciled in as a starter for the team's season opener. Rainey had a message for those who did not expect to see him take the field again.



"Big shout out to every person, doctor or journalist that doubted me and said this day would never come. I'm here," he said on Twitter.

Going into the game, Rainey had the support of his teammates.

"You don't hear, a year later, somebody losing their leg and coming back to be starting quarterback," teammate Phillip Berry told the Daily Progress before the game. "He is definitely a hero in my eyes."

For the rest of the season, seeing limited duty he completed 12 of 15 passes for 141 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. That gave him quarterback rating of 148.

Read full story{PAGEBREAK}15. Thomas Tyner runs track on the football field Aloha is a Hawaiian term that means hello and goodbye. Thomas Tyner communicated that almost simultaneously on the gridiron while a senior at Aloha (Beaverton, Ore.).

Considered one of the fastest sprinters in the nation, Tyner recorded the third biggest rushing day in prep high school history by going for 644 yards and 10 touchdowns in a 84-63 win over Lakeridge on Sept. 15.



Tyner scored on runs of 20, 41, 62, 60, 65, 48, 41, 40, 34 and 10 yards.

The rushing yards record is held by John Giannantonio (Netcong, N.J.) who went for 754 in a game against Mt. Lakes in 1950. The No. 2 total is 661 set in 2006 by Paul McCoy of Matewan, W.V. The record for rushing touchdowns in a game is 12, set by two players.

Tyner put an exclamation point on a phenomenal career by setting the Oregon single-season rushing mark in Aloha's (Beaverton, Ore.) game against West Salem in the second round of the Class 6A state playoffs.

A 50-yard touchdown run helped Tyner move past the mark of 3,335 set by Cory McCaffrey of Sisters in 2006.

Tyner entered the game with 3,241 yards. His sterling senior campaign comes after a junior year that was plagued with injuries.

After briefly decommitting, Tyner solidified his commitment and signed with Oregon in February.



Read full story{PAGEBREAK}16. Double softball robbery

Spectacular plays to end a game have made YouTube famous. Spectacular plays to end state championship games make players famous.

But to make two spectacular catches — both worthy of YouTube — and score the winning run, well, that's the stuff that gets you on Top 20 stories of the year.

Jayme Langbehn is just a freshman, but she never will forget her spectacular performance just last week while sparking Elk River (Minn.) to the Class 3A state softball championship.

See cbslocal.com story and video

The young center fielder reached over the fence not once but twice to rob Prior Lake players of home runs and enable her team to post a tense 4-3 victory.

She very humbly told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, "I do whatever it takes. I feel like I'm not very important cause I'm just a freshman, but every player counts and I'm happy I did it for my teammates."



Read full story{PAGEBREAK}17. NBA game breaks out at football game

Both Davidson Day (Davidson, N.C.) and Harrells Christian Academy (Harrells, N.C.) coaches said they expected a high-scoring football game last November. But 184 combined points, 837 passing yards from one player and 1,641 total yards?

Preposterous. Ridiculous. Unfathomable.

But it was all true and then some in host Davidson Day's 104-80 North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association Division 2 semifinal victory Nov. 9.

"It was PlayStation stuff," Davidson Day coach Chad Grier said.

The two teams alone combined for more points than four NBA games that night.



"I don't really have good words to describe it," Grier said. "If I didn't see it myself, I probably would not have believed it. I just feel it's unbelievable."

Many stars emerged from all the offensive explosions.

* The biggest was Davidson Day 6-foot-3, 192-pound junior quarterback Will Grier, who completed 35 of 42 passes for 837 yards.

* Davidson Day running back Jordan Brown caught 13 passes for 302 yards and two touchdowns. Aaron Seward had six catches for 221 yards. Glen Coates (5-105), Jordan Young (6-97) and Michael Stevens (5-92) also had big games for Davidson Day.

* Harrells 6-foot, 202-pound senior running back Russell Washington ran 45 times for 438 yards and seven touchdowns.

* Davidson Day piled up 924 yards and Harrells added 717.



None of the statistics were considered for national NFHS records because as an Independent school, they are not recognized by the North Carolina High School Athletic Association.

Read full story{PAGEBREAK} 18. Boyle-ing over The combination of Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) and Kevin Boyle sounded like a winner from the moment it was announced in April of 2011.

One of the nation's top coaches was heading to an elite academic institution on a beautiful campus with the ability to attract talent from all over the country and even the world. And he wasn't starting from scratch, as Montverde Academy was ranked nationally several times under Kevin Sutton from 2004 to 2011.

It didn't take long for Boyle to deliver the goods, as the Eagles used a dramatic three-day run over the weekend at the National High School Invitational to vault past three teams and earn the No. 1 ranking in the final MaxPreps Academy Top 10.

Seemingly a perennial national championship contender while at St. Patrick (Elizabeth, N.J.), Boyle finally broke through to claim the crown with perhaps his deepest collection of talent.

The Eagles featured at least a handful players that will sign with high major college basketball programs. Seniors Kasey Hill (Florida), Dakari Johnson (Kentucky) and Devin Williams (West Virginia) have made their respective decisions about the next level.



Two other seniors in Miguel Cartagena and Justin Bibbs along with juniors Jordan Caroline, Jalyn Patterson and D'Angelo Russell — a potential five-star prospect — were regulars in the rotation.

Montverde Academy (25-2) beat eight teams ranked nationally at some point in the season, including an impressive 21-point victory over Xcellent 25 national champion Lone Peak (Highland, Utah) in the championship game of the prestigious City of Palms Classic.

There was also a 29-point win over eventual Illinois 4A champ Simeon (Chicago) and 26-point thrashing of New Jersey Tournament of Champions winner Roselle Catholic in January.

Read full story{PAGEBREAK}19. Gone in under 10 seconds

Wind or not, Trayvon Bromell is the fastest 100-meter runner in high school history.

The Baylor University signee from Gibbs (St. Petersburg, Fla.) shocked the high school track world on Saturday when he won the 100-meter dash in a spectacular 9.9 seconds during the 38th annual Great Southwest Track and Field Classic in Albuquerque, N.M.



Though he is the first prep to break the 10-second barrier, he will not have the national record because he benefited from a tailwind of 4.0 meters per second, double the legal wind speed. Therefore the 10.01 mark of Jeff Demps still stands as the record.

Bromell told the Albuquerque Journal, "It means the world to me. I'm leaving my legacy. I'm making history. I told the (Florida) coaches I wanted to go faster than my (10.14, his previous personal record). I knew they were getting some fast runners here, so I wanted to come."

Baylor track and field coach Todd Harbour is more than excited to have Bromell attending his school.

"Trayvon is one of the top 100 and 200-meter guys in the country right now," he said. "We are excited to bring him in and have him continue on the tradition we have had with sprinters."

Read full story{PAGEBREAK}20. Rez Ball One of the nation's greatest secrets is the Navajo Indian Reservation's fervent love for basketball. It's a love affair that dates all the way back to the invention of the game and is located near the four-corner's region of the United States.

MaxPreps spent four days in the mecca of Rez Ball, a town and high school named Chinle (Ariz.) where the single main street is dusty and unpaved, but its basketball arena is state-of-the-art and holds 8,000 fans.



A MaxPreps Beyond the X feature investigated this cultural phenomenon with the help of Arizona Republic staff writer Richard Obert, who has written an unpublished book on the culture and game.

Read full story E-mail MaxPreps senior writer Mitch Stephens at mstephens@maxpreps.com or follow him on Twitter @MitchMashMax