When is High School Basketball at its Best?

[hook em horns]

We often discuss on this message board who is the best team, the best player, the best coach or what is the best venue for games. While all of those topics are fun to discuss and debate its stories like below that exhibit when high school basketball is at its best. I've copied and pasted the article from ESPN.com.

Two missed free throws, ordinarily the cause of a coach's headache, became the symbol of sportsmanship in a Milwaukee boys' basketball game earlier this month.

Milwaukee Madison senior Johntell Franklin, who lost his mother, Carlitha, to cancer on Saturday, Feb. 7, decided he wanted to play in that night's game against DeKalb (Ill.) High School after previously indicating he would sit out.

He arrived at the gym in the second quarter, but Franklin's name was not in the scorebook because his coach, Aaron Womack Jr., didn't expect him to be there.

Rules dictated Womack would have to be assessed a technical, but he was prepared to put Franklin in the game anyway. DeKalb coach Dave Rohlman and his players knew of the situation, and told the referees they did not want the call.

The referees had no choice. But Rohlman did.

"I gathered my kids and said, 'Who wants to take these free throws?'" Rohlman said, recounting the game to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "Darius McNeal put up his hand. I said, 'You realize you're going to miss, right?' He nodded his head."

McNeal, a senior point guard, went to the line. The Milwaukee Madison players stayed by their bench, waiting for the free throws. Instead of seeing the ball go through the net, they saw the ball on the court, rolling over the end line.

"I turned around and saw the ref pick up the ball and hand it back to the player," Womack said in the Journal Sentinel. "And then [McNeal] did the same thing again."

Said Rohlman: "Darius set up for a regular free throw, but he only shot it two or three feet in front of him. It bounced once or twice and just rolled past the basket."

"I did it for the guy who lost his mom," McNeal told the newspaper. "It was the right thing to do."

Womack, overwhelmed by DeKalb's gesture, wrote a letter to the DeKalb Daily Chronicle, which had first reported the story.

"As a principal, school, school district staff, and community you should all feel immense pride for the remarkable job that the coaching staff is doing in not only coaching these young men, but teaching them how to be leaders," Womack wrote.

DeKalb had traveled more than two hours for the game, and waited another two as Womack rushed from the hospital, where he had been with Franklin, to the school to gather his team.

"We were sympathetic to the circumstances and the events," Rohlman said in the Journal Sentinel. "We even told Coach Womack that it'd be OK to call off the game, but he said we had driven 2½ hours to get here and the kids wanted to play. So we said, 'Spend some time with your team and come out when you're ready.'"

The two schools had met twice previously, and this one ended with a Madison victory, but as in the other games, they also shared a pizza dinner, "four kids to a pizza, two Madison kids and two DeKalb kids," Womack told the Journal Sentinel.

"That letter became a big deal in DeKalb," Rohlman said in the paper. "We got lots of positive calls and e-mails because of it. Even though we lost the game, it was a true life lesson, and it's not one our kids are going to forget anytime soon."

Womack, in his letter to the DeKalb Daily Chronicle, added this at the end: "I'd like to recognize Darius who stepped up to miss the shot on purpose. He could have been selfish and cared only for his own stats [I hope Coach Rohlman doesn't make him run for missing the free throws]."

[theassassin]

good article

[claypantherfan]

That is a great thing that kid did

[california kid]

thats a great thing to do

[SportsMom]

kudos to both of these teams!!! as a mother I would of been very proud of all these kids!!

[BubbleGumTiger]

[lady_oaks_fan3362]

This is a very moving story and it makes one stop and think that there is more to life than the game but the game in itself teaches many life lessons. This one has taught us to be be considerate of others even when it doesn't benefit us.

We at Oak Hill know the heartbreak of death especially in youth. Janie Hatfield was a special Lady Oak who left us too soon and this season is for her. We feel her presence at each and every game. Even when our girls cut down the nets after winning the SOC II, the event was made special because Janie's parents were there to help cut down the net. Janie will always be a member of the Lady Oaks.

God bless Janie's family as well as the family mentioned in this post.

[Focused]

[yabbadabbadoo]

Wow, great article. Just goes to show you that people do care about other people out there, regardless of alkl the other crap you read about in the paper that is going on around the world today.

This is a very moving story and it makes one stop and think that there is more to life than the game but the game in itself teaches many life lessons. This one has taught us to be be considerate of others even when it doesn't benefit us.

We at Oak Hill know the heartbreak of death especially in youth. Janie Hatfield was a special Lady Oak who left us too soon and this season is for her. We feel her presence at each and every game. Even when our girls cut down the nets after winning the SOC II, the event was made special because Janie's parents were there to help cut down the net. Janie will always be a member of the Lady Oaks.

God bless Janie's family as well as the family mentioned in this post.

Know in your heart that Janie is above watching and cheering on the Oak Hill teams.

[Jumpstop]

life lessons... wow. this is what basketball is supposed to be about. thanks for sharing. am saving this url.

[allsport12]

We all get caught up in winning and losing and jawwing back and forth. These are all part of the game and how fans interact. I read this article and it really made me think about what high school athletics are all about. This story really touched me and I hope everyone gets to read it.

[Space Cowboy]

[OZZIEOHIO]

Great story, I was going to post it also.

[pmow3]