A high school basketball coach was suspended after his team defeated another school by a huge margin, embarrassing them in the process.
The nature of their win has been deemed to be unsportsmanlike by the school and coach Jason Kirck was suspended for one match.
Kirck is the coach of the girls’ team at Sacred Heart Academy in Connecticut, and it seems as if his team are pretty good.
Well, if the scoreline is anything to go by, they’re at least better than Lyman Hall.
Kirck’s charges battered their opponents by 92 points to just four last Monday night (3 January), racking up an impressive 88 points more than their opponents.
However, not everyone was so impressed by their margin of victory.
The school has since issued an apology for the rout.
Sister Sheila O’Neill, the school president, said: “Sacred Heart Academy values the lessons taught and cultivated through athletic participation including ethical and responsible behavior, leadership and strength of character and respect for one’s opponents.
“Sacred Heart Academy Administration and Athletics are deeply remorseful for the manner through with the outcome of the game was achieved.”
Tom Lipka, the coach of Lyman Hall, told the Hartford Courant that his team received ‘no mercy’ during their heavy defeat.
Despite getting rid of their starters in the fourth and final quarter, Lipka said: “Sacred Heart pressed for most of the first half then called it off and went into a tight man-to-man defense trying to get steals.
“They fast-breaked the entire game right to the end. They never went into a zone and continued to push the ball up the court and shoot threes whenever they could.
“They showed no mercy throughout.”
Kirck missed one game last Thursday night (6 January), and the two schools are down to face one another again on 28 January.
The Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference said that it has no jurisdiction over the matter, but has made a point of talking to both schools.
The organisation’s associate executive director Gregg Simon said: "The CIAC promotes safety and sportsmanship above all else for our member schools.
"We have been in communication with both schools as well as the Southern Connecticut Conference and we will continue to offer support to our member schools as they work through this difficult situation."
You’d have to imagine that the next game might have a slightly different scoreline, even if the outcome is the same.
Featured Image Credit: Alamy (stock)Topics: Sport, US News, Basketball, Weird
Tom Wood