If you win a basketball game by 107 points, it’s hard to argue that you weren’t trying to run up the score. But that’s exactly what the coach of Ohio's Gilmour Academy basketball team said after his team won a game 108-1—yes, 108 to 1—against Northeast Ohio College Prep on Wednesday night.
Gilmour Academy coach Bob Beutel spoke with Cleveland.com after the game ended and said that he didn’t mean for things to get so out of hand. According to him, he put in junior varsity players as early as the first quarter and backed off as much as he could. But it didn’t help and, in the end, Northeast Ohio College Prep, a 1-12 team, just wasn’t able to compete (at all!) against Gilmour Academy.
“Our intent was not to run anything up,” he said, “and we took steps to not disrespect our opponent. They went 0-for-28 from the field and 1-for-4 from the free-throw line. We let them shoot.”
To their credit, Northeast Ohio College Prep didn’t complain about what happened. They released a statement commending Gilmour Academy for being “incredibly talented” and praised their own players for showing good sportsmanship.
But good sportsmanship or not, the scoreboard wasn't pretty after the game:
