In a sport where lopsided scores and high-scoring individual performances are not uncommon, it's a rare that a team, a coach and a player pull the foot off the accelerator when records are within reach. But that's exactly what Riverside, coach Josh Aniska and Antoniacci did against the Spartans.
Antoniacci played only the first half, in fact he only played 14 minutes total. He was particularly effective from the 3-point line, making 10 of 15 from long range and finishing 19 of 25 overall.
"He only played 14 minutes because we were winning 68-21 at halftime," Aniska said. "Some of the 3-pointers he just pulled up from 30 feet in transition. Others were in the flow of the offense. We forced a lot of turnovers and play very fast, that helped him get a lot of extra shots."
A 6-foot-3 sophomore, Antoniacci averaged 20.4 points per game as a freshman with a high of 34 points. He was the Scranton Times Tribune's Player of the Year last season.
With Antoniacci on the bench in the second half, Wyoming Valley West kept the game a little closer with the Vikings outscoring the Spartans 29-16.
What makes Antoniacci's performance so unique is the fact that he scored all of his points in the first half without playing a second in the second half. That kind of thing just doesn't happen, especially when the player has 53 points at halftime.
Through research of the LuckyShow.org website, which has a long list of players who have scored 45 points or more over the past 120 years, no player with over 50 points was found to have scored all of his points in the first half. None.
There are several players with more points in the first half. Kenneth Johnson of
Grandfield (Okla.) had 71 points in the first half of a game in 1979 on his way to 105. Sanford White of
Durfee (Fall River, Mass.) had 60 points in the first half of a game in 1906 and finished with 90.
Then there is Johnny Morris of
Norcom (Portsmouth, Va.) who had 59 points in the first half of a game in 1961 and finished with 127.
There is a running theme there. All of the players who scored over 50 points in the first half went on to score 90 or more in the game. And all of those games were rather lopsided. Norcom won its game by a margin of 106 points while Durfee won 154-4. Grandfield played it a little bit closer, winning 120-65.
When a team wins in a blowout and a player scores an absurd amount of points, backlash and cries of poor sportsmanship often follow. Nick Khatchikian of
Mesrobian (Pico Rivera, Calif.) scored all 79 of his team's points (Mesrobian led 79-0) in the first half against Waverly School (Pasadena) last year en route to 102 points in a 119-25 win. One headline about the game in the San Francisco Chronicle stated, "California basketball player's 102-point record tainted by awful sportsmanship."
Perhaps the only equivalent to Antoniacci's performance is that of Naismith Memorial Hall of Famer Lisa Leslie of
Morningside (Inglewood, Calif.), who famously scored 101 points in the first half of a game against South Torrance in 1990. Leslie did not play the second half because there was no second half. South Torrance coach Gil Ramirez pulled his team out of the game after getting down to four players by halftime trailing 102-24.
Ironically, Morningside was not accused of poor sportsmanship, Ramirez was. In fact Ramirez was suspended by the CIF for violating a sportsmanship rule. But what choice did he really have? Pull his depleted team from the court at halftime or prolong his team's embarrassment and humiliation at the hands of a far superior opponent.
Surprisingly, Morningside faced little criticism for the lopsided first half. Cheryl Miller, who holds the California state record of 106 points in a game that Leslie was trying to break, even defended Morningside's strategy.
"I
know their (South Torrance) coach will holler about poor sportsmanship,
but the game is to score points," Miller said back in 1990. "It is a shame
that she did not get a chance to break the record."
While the media is quick to point out examples of poor sportsmanship, good sportsmanship rarely gets recognized. It doesn't move the needle. It doesn't register clicks. That's a shame, because it should.
We have found no mention of the good sportsmanship shown by Antoniacci, Aniska and the rest of the Vikings. Had he continued to play, Antoniacci might not have broken the state record of 114 points by Bristol's Pete Cimino in 1960, but he might have come close. He had the hot hand and the Vikings were playing aggressive defense and forcing turnovers. The game could have turned really ugly.
But it didn't. Aniska congratulated Antoniacci and asked him to take a seat for the second half. The sophomore sharpshooter did just that, cheering his team to the win. The zero points he scored in the second half is just as impressive as the 53 he scored in the first because it showed respect for the opponent and respect for the game. A lesson worth learning.
