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Ever seen a team purposely try to lose a game by only by a specific number of points or less?????
Several years ago, the top two HS teams in a conference were playing each other in a game to determine the champion. If green (visitior) wins, they would tie white (home). The tie-breaker was point differential: if white loses by 6pts or less they are champs; if white loses by 7pts or more, they finish second.
Sure enough, w/ 1:30 left in game white is losing by 5 and HOLDING the ball (think stalling, "four corners", "keep away", etc). Green, the team that is winning, is trapping and trying to steal the ball. No matter how open the losing team was, they didn't want to shoot the ball. Ultimately, Green gets a steal and misses a wide-open break-a-way dunk (that would have put them up by 7) and the kid on white who grabbed the rebound races down the floor and jacks up a 3 (while his teammates and coaches are yelling for him to "pull it out!"). The 3 misses and another player in white - in an effort to get the long rebound - fouls green (which then made both free throws).
Since white is down 7pts, they have to "change gears" and go from "stalling" while down 5, to jacking 3's and fouling to try and lose by less.
Eventually, White lost by 8 (which means Green won the conference championship). They were so deflated after that loss that they promptly went out and got blown out in the first round of the state playoffs.....
Never seen anything like it before or since!
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