I ril_ D/A I I /ALIv_/1N
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1977
r-dge
Houston high school loses to win
By ANGELO RUSSO
A “one in a million chance,”
brought a Texas high school basket
ball team to national prominence re
cently, but their place in the spot
light was short-lived.
Superior ball-handling didn’t
arouse the interest of NBC news in
this team, nor did an air-tight de
fense, nor even an overpowering of-
jfense. The nation’s eyes turned to
Texas when the 4A Stratford High
School Spartans of Houston’s Spring
Branch School District found them
selves in the unusual position of hav
ing to lose a basketball game in order
to gain a spot in the district playoffs.
Because of the district’s “two-half’
season rule, which splits the compe
tition into two rounds and brings the
winners of each round together to
play off for the district title, a victory
by Stratford would have excluded
them from the playoffs. Stratford
tied Westchester High School for
first place in the first round of season
play.
In the second round, Westchester
and Spring Woods were vying for the
No. 1 position while Stratford held
the third place spot. Westchester
would win the second round and the
district crown if Stratford beat
Spring Woods in the season finale. If
Stratford lost, Westchester would tie
with Spring Woods for the second
round lead and all three, Westches
ter, Spring Woods and Stratford,
would be forced into a district
playoff.
So if Stratford was to gain a spot in
the district playoffs, they would have
to lose to Spring Woods.
“Purposely losing a game con
tradicts everything that competitive
athletics is about,” Stratford basket
ball coach Jerry Kroll said. “But our
purpose at the beginning of the sea
son was to win district; that was our
primary goal. Winning Tuesday
night would have precluded us from
advancing to the playoffs.’
The marquees in front of Stratford
High read, “Watch us lose to Spring
Woods tonight, 8:15.” And the
Spartans did just that. They played
their reserves all evening and were
soundly defeated by Spring Woods,
72-45.
The game, which was covered by
NBC news, was entertaining, Strat
ford cheerleader Ginger Roush said.
“We cheered and all, but we never
used the word ‘win,’ just things like
‘spirit’ and fight.’ It really was
funny, because our fans were cheer
ing every time the other team made
a basket.”
The referees got the best deal,”
one student said. “Nobody was
against them tonight. Everyone
wanted the same team to win. The
news cameras came to the school the
day of the game and interviewed
students. I think they tried to make
it into a controversy, but coach Kroll
did what he had to do. That’s what
competitive sports is all about.”
The Spartans excitement was
short-lived however, as they lost to
Westchester 53-36 last night in the
first game of district playoffs. This
one was for real and cost the Spartans
the district title.
“I have no second thoughts about
our decision to lose, coach Kroll
said. “We set out to win district and
we gave it our best shot.
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