Girls Blowouts

[Larks]

The agony of the blowout
In girls basketball, scores can get so lopsided even the winners feel it

By Shannon Russell
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Ashleigh Hendricks blinks twice. Sweat trickles from her brow to her cheekbones, beading along her jaw before splashing onto her St. Bernard basketball jersey.

The opponents have just scored again. They lead by 64 points.

Enough, she wants to say. Stop the humiliation now.

Ashleigh imagines she's in a bad movie, running in slow motion, while the winning team fast-forwards to the basket.

When the buzzer blares to end a 77-13 loss to Seven Hills, she trudges off court, thinking of the Titans' other lopsided defeats: 72-26. 71-31. 68-31.

"It's so frustrating and embarrassing," Ashleigh says. "We don't have any confidence after games like that."

In Cincinnati high school girls basketball, "games like that" happen almost every night. Blowouts - victories of 30 points or more - are messy affairs disguised in neatly packaged box scores. In 562 girls games reported to the Enquirer since November, nearly one of every five has been a blowout.

The scores are the result of teams mismatched by size, wealth, talent and desire. Lopsided scores may even be an unintended consequence of Title IX, the federal law that says girls must have the same athletic opportunities as boys.

As schools created hundreds of new girls teams, the potential for disparities grew. Last season, 18,352 Ohio girls played on 784 varsity basketball teams - a significant increase over the 12,000 girls who played in 1974.

As the Ohio high school sectional tournament begins Monday, more blowouts are guaranteed as the best teams feast on weaker teams in early-round competition. Regardless of the reason, blowouts will lead to hurt feelings, empty wins, finger-pointing and locker room debates about ethics and good sportsmanship.

"Some teams have personal-trainer type situations, where they can go to Fitworks or a Nautilus and work out in the offseason. My girls play softball," St. Bernard coach Rick Stalder says. "Those teams can throw the ball the length of the floor. My girl is lucky to get it to halfcourt."

Blowouts aren't exclusive to girls games, but they don't occur nearly as often with boys.

Boys and girls are directed by different societal and parental perceptions of sports' importance. Girls are more likely to be late bloomers, and some learn basketball fundamentals as late as high school. Winning isn't always everything; some play to be with friends, or to exercise.

"There's just not the same pool of athletes in women's sports as there are in men's," says David T. Hellkamp, a Xavier University professor of psychology and consulting sports psychologist.

Hellkamp says that as good teams get better and weaker teams improve, someday the playing field "will start evening out."

No thrill in victory

Melanie McGraw has been dreaming of this season her entire life. The Seven Hills senior, a two-time all-conference forward, has imagined playing in the state championships since third grade.

It's why she and her teammates dragged themselves out of bed at 5:30 a.m. for summer conditioning, lifting weights until their arms ached and jumping rope until their lungs burned.

"We thought about what all the other teams were doing and hoped that our hard work would pay off," Melanie says.

Except that it hasn't, exactly.

The Stingers, ranked No. 4 in the Division IV state poll and No. 1 in the Enquirer's Divisions II-IV coaches poll, are widely disliked after winning their first 13 games by an average of 42 points.

Seven Hills plays in one of the city's most lopsided leagues, the Miami Valley Conference, home to private and public schools. Strong programs from Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy, Landmark Christian and North College Hill twice a year play struggling teams from St. Bernard, Lockland, Summit Country Day and New Miami.

The Stingers, who have four starters from last season's school-best district championship team, have crushed New Miami (88-7 and 76-14) and Summit (74-18), among others.

In those games, Melanie doesn't have much chance to showcase her skills. Starters play only about two quarters; subs play to balance competition on the court.

"It's frustrating, because you know you want to play hard. You can't do things like fast-break when you're winning by a lot, and fast-breaking is one of the aspects of basketball I live for," Melanie says.

The Stingers' scores have been criticized by other players and coaches, even their own classmates.

"Some people don't even want to go to our games," junior forward Sofie Mirkopoulos says. "They don't want to watch a blowout."

Instead of being rewarded for extensive off-season work, Melanie feels penalized.

She says Seven Hills has done everything to avoid embarrassing opponents. Not all of the games have been lopsided; on Jan. 22 the Stingers lost to Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy, 46-35.

Yet every time her team runs out for warmups, Melanie senses contempt.

"I don't know why everybody is mad at us," she says. "I feel bad for the other team when blowouts happen. I don't know if they think about what it's like to be in our shoes."

Double perspective

Hughes coach Anita Burke can relate to both sides. As head of one of the Queen City Conference's top teams, she is criticized for trouncing other teams. Yet she says she continually imposes on-court restrictions when playing weaker conference foes.

With Burke's help, Hughes has enjoyed seven straight winning seasons. But when Hughes plays nonleague foes, its fortunes change.

The Big Reds could not survive Mount Notre Dame, No. 5 in the Division I state poll and No. 1 in the Enquirer's Division I coaches poll. On Jan. 11, Mount Notre Dame - the top team in the Girls Greater Cincinnati League Scarlet Division (17-2, 9-0) - thrashed Hughes 72-36.

Two days later, Hughes defeated conference foe Aiken 69-2. Aiken scored only twice, on free throws in different quarters. Hughes dominated Aiken again on Jan. 28, 52-10.

"They just weren't any good. They were inexperienced," says Burke, who called off a press five minutes into the first game. "I played everybody. There's not much more I can do."

Senior guard Farsha Johnson mopped away copious tears after the loss to Mount Notre Dame. It was hard losing that way, she says.

What about Aiken? Well, that was different.

"It was boring (playing Aiken)," Farsha says. "We just ran plays to prepare for better teams. I did feel sorry for them, a little bit. But Mount Notre Dame didn't feel sorry for us."

Aiken coach Wayne Wiggins won't comment, but former coach Patrick Branch says Hughes embarrassed Aiken players so badly two years ago that half the team quit.

"If I ever had a team that could blow Hughes out, I would. I'd shut them down and embarrass them," Branch says. "You see things like this happen in the NBA, not high school girls basketball. It's a slap in the face."

Beefs among coaches are the last thing a game needs, says Duane Warns, assistant commissioner of the Ohio High School Athletic Association.

"If we see a coach pouring it on and beating teams unmercifully, we need to remind them that they need to be teaching better values, like character. That's why we play the games we play," Warns says.

For many teenage girls, blowouts pummel their already fragile self-esteem. Most girls interviewed from losing teams say their coaches try to motivate them, but the best confidence-builder comes from opponents' rare compliments.

"Sometimes it's hard to come back after halftime," says junior Alison Meirose, who plays for winless Turpin (0-19). "When we played Glen Este, their coach (Jeff Click) actually said he respected how we played defense. It was so unexpected, and it made us all feel really good."

Theresa Hirschauer, Cincinnati Country Day's athletic director and assistant basketball coach, has seen plenty of lopsided games in soccer, basketball and softball in the past 13 years. When seasons end and teams disband, feelings of inadequacy and embarrassment still lurk in players' minds.

"When you embarrass a kid like that," Hirschauer says, "it sticks with them for the rest of their lives."

Easier to cheer

New Miami junior center Cindy Johnson describes herself as a dedicated basketball player. Or a boys basketball cheerleader.

Cindy is one of three varsity players who juggle cheerleading with girls basketball. She admits that she doesn't give 100 percent to basketball and that the team could use some extra practices.

In many ways, she's typical of girls who want to participate in an extracurricular activity.

"Our boys have a winning team, so it's kind of easier to be a cheerleader and back someone who wins," Cindy says.

The 1-18 Vikings (0-15 Miami Valley Conference) have won one game a season since 1994. Seven of the 18 girls split between reserve and varsity had never played basketball until now.

Coach Tim Augustine says most of New Miami's girls don't pick up a ball until the season rolls around. Getting them to attend open gyms is tough, because of lack of interest and obligations to multiple sports.

Being blown out is embarrassing, but Cindy says it's even more excruciating when the other team takes one look and laughs.

Augustine says players didn't even want to board a bus to Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy on Feb. 1, knowing the game would be a rout. When they got to the school, Augustine and Cindy say, the opposing players belittled them. Then beat them 75-26.

Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy coach Tim Southerland won't comment.

Cindy sticks with basketball because she likes the sport, and it keeps her away from bad influences, "like drugs." She says Augustine encourages the team to go to Miami University's team camp, but his efforts fall short.

"It's a teenage girl thing. It's their summer, and they don't want to dedicate it to basketball," Cindy says.

'You don't quit'

Giving up was never an option for Williamsburg senior Tiffany Hayes.

The Wildcats, who have won five games in four seasons, beat Southern Buckeye Conference foe Batavia 53-33 on Jan. 30. It was Williamsburg's first league win in five years.

Just weeks before, some of Tiffany's teammates sobbed in Georgetown's locker room after being blown out 74-28.

Tiffany, a three-year varsity player, always had maintained a positive outlook for Williamsburg.

"You don't quit something you love just because you're not great at it. That will never get you anywhere," she says.

Thanks to second-year coach Rick Healey's efforts and offseason work, the Wildcats have made strides. After years of losing, the girls learned that they could win.

So there's hope, Tiffany says, for teams enduring year after year of blowouts.

"You can't hang your head and get frustrated," she says. "If you keep working, it gets better as the days go by."

E-mail [email protected]

Blowouts by the numbers (more reported in the actual article)

CHCA 72, Summit 7
Madeira 64, Deer Park 9
Seven Hills 88, New Miami 7
CHCA 70, Lockland 12
Hughes 69, Aiken 2
Hughes 52, Aiken 10

[Larks]

I thought it was interesting Title 9 was mentioned.

[Hawks Coach]

Expand a sport rapidly and you will have these kind of disparities. I think that is precisely what you are seeing in girls HS Bball.

Take it to the next level. Men's ball at the NCAA level has gotten a ton more parity even over the last 10-15 years, compared to when I was growing up. The mid-majors never had much luck against the major programs 25-30 years ago, but now the talent pool is much larger. So there are more good teams and far fewer blowouts.

Women's NCAA is still in the stage of the haves and have-nots. The long win streak of Connecticut resembles that of UCLA in it's prime, when there were just a couple of prime programs and coaches, with all the talent and long winning streaks to show for it. You will not see another men's streak of like UCLA's, and I am willing to bet that UCONN will be one of the last incredible women's streaks.

The depth at the older age groups will come as girl's ball continues to expand. Until then, the blowouts will continue.

[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

I do not wish to sound like a pain in the tuckus, but what does the article have to do with anything. I am willing to bet that 20% of all boys' H.S. varsity game in the Cincinnati area are blowouts too. Such is life in the big city (and probably the little villages too).

Blowouts happen and so do close games and in between games. I really do not worry wether the game is or is not a blowout. I think that we as officials should just take the game as it comes and officiate it accordingly.

[Larks]

Originally posted by Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.
I do not wish to sound like a pain in the tuckus, but what does the article have to do with anything. I am willing to bet that 20% of all boys' H.S. varsity game in the Cincinnati area are blowouts too. Such is life in the big city (and probably the little villages too).

Blowouts happen and so do close games and in between games. I really do not worry wether the game is or is not a blowout. I think that we as officials should just take the game as it comes and officiate it accordingly.

You have to agree that are are very few 68-2 scores in boys. Not saying Girls arent entitled to play. They certainly are. As an official, I dont care if its going to be a blow out. I thought the article was interesting in that we all have these from time to time.

[Back In The Saddle]

What seems sad to me is not the blowouts, or the anguish of the losing team. It's that the girls who really put in the effort seem to get robbed in the end. They don't get the number of competitive games or the playing time they need to develop. It sounds like when they come across a team that they should be competitive with (from another conference or whatever), they're not ready and struggle.

I wonder, do these same girls get the chance to go on and play in college? Or does this situation hurt them at that level as well?

[Hawks Coach]

That is a big reason why many of the best girls play AAU ball. My team is filled with the best girls from around the county. One of my girls plays for an undefeated MS team that regularly wins by huge margins (and is again undefeated). She easily scores 10-20 points a game. She left one of her recent games at half-time (with coach's permission) to get to one of our games, because her team had a 40 point lead and she wasn't going to play a minute of the second half.

In our games, she has to work her tail off to get points. She remains one of the top players on the court, but she is learning every time she plays. Come spring, we will have even tougher competition and it will really stretch her abilities.

[Back In The Saddle]

Originally posted by Hawks Coach
That is a big reason why many of the best girls play AAU ball.

What is AAU ball? I am not familiar with it.

[Hawks Coach]

AAU stands for Amateur Athletic Union. It is the highest level of competitive ball available. If you see a Division I player on TV, men or women, chances are really high that they played AAU ball somewhere. The AAU season runs during the spring and culminates with a national championship tournament in July. The best teams will travel nationally (or over a large multi-state area) throughout the spring to get competition.

Depending on the area, the best team in one region may completely dominate that region and draw most (if not all) of the best players. In other regions, there are many high quality organizations and the dominant club will vary by age group. If you go to the AAU web site

I coach 13U girls (1989 birth year, generally 8th graders)in the Potomac Valley region, which has several really good clubs. Fairfax (VA) Stars are the best in my age group (but have many solid challengers). One year younger, the best two teams are the (N. VA) Vogues and the (Mont. County MD) Classics, both of whom finished in the top 5 at nationals last year. One year younger, and it is the MD Flames (MY CLUB!) and the (Mt Vernon, VA) Cardinal, both of whom finished in the top 16 last year. With this kind of dissemination of talent, there are a number of opportunities to get great competition right here at home. When you travel, you can easly go to Pittsburgh, NYC, Philly, Baltimore, Richmond, etc., in the process seeing new teams and great players.

The Classics team, a long-time rival, is composed of 7th grade girls, yet they competed in a fall HS JV league (one of the unofficial leagues with teams coached by parents). They finished 3rd in that league, playing girls that were 2-3 years older than they are. Their best players will start on high caliber varsity teams as freshman in two years. They will be all-Met players, some as early as their first year.

One other note. Boys AAU is the area where a lot of controversy exists, due to the interesting relationships between teams, coaches, shoe companies and players. The best boys teams have shoe contracts, the coaches may be paid by the shoe companies, and player relationships with the almighty dollar begin at a younger age every year. There is little regulation of what goes on here, and many players have recently been suspended because of circumstances related to AAU clubs. This is not yet happening on any wide scale with the girls, probably because the money has not been so big yet. With the WNBA and the advent of women getting sponsorships, it will undoubtably change with time.

[ChuckElias]

Originally posted by Hawks Coach
AAU stands for Amateur Athletic Union. It is the highest level of competitive ball available.

Um, Coach. You wanna explain that last comment? Seems to me like college is a higher level of competitive ball. Not trying to pick nits, just trying to figure out what you really meant.

With the WNBA and the advent of women getting sponsorships, it will undoubtably change with time.

If the WNBA lasts another 5 years, I'll be amazed. Nobody watches on TV. They had 5 or 6 teams either fold or move in the off-season. The only reason the league is solvent is that Stern keeps pumping money into it. And now the player's association is talking about a strike. If a women's league can't develop an audience on the Lifetime Channel (marketed at women!), then how can it possibly survive? I can't believe they're still in operation now, let alone in 5 years. Just my opinion.

Chuck

[dhodges007]

I had a girls game this season: 70-1!

[Hawks Coach]

Chuck
There is no AAU for college age - by age group, it is most competitive. To be clear, it starts at 10U and goes up to 18U. And college recruiters pay close attention to the national tournaments and who the major players are, as well as other NCAA-authorized tournaments.

If you want to pick nits, then WNBA is higher level of competition than college.

[ChuckElias]

Originally posted by Hawks Coach
by age group, it is most competitive.

By age group. Got it now! Thanks.

If you want to pick nits, then WNBA is higher level of competition than college.

Obviously. I was simply pointing out one example of a higher level of ball. but I totally understand now. Thanks

Chuck

[dblref]

I agree with Hawks Coach that there are a number of high quality teams in his area -- I know, I have officiated games with most of the teams he named. Excellent games.

[ace]

Whats it take to be an AAU ref say at the 10U 11U 12U and 13U level? Theres a few AAU teams in my area...