Costly dunk at H.S. game

This was a "teaching" moment that comes up for high school coaches from time to time. You know, one of those, "We just got a bad break, and that's life, we have to deal with it."

A shattered backboard sent Harlem to the losers bracket.On March 5 in Cut Bank, Mont., Isaiah Martin, a 5-foot-11 senior guard for Harlem's boys basketball team, dunked during warmups for a high school tournament game with Shelby. There was a shower of glass as the backboard shattered. Harlem had to forfeit the game. According to the Montana High School Association, dunking is not allowed in pregame warmups in tournament play. If a backboard is damaged by a pregame dunk, the offending school must forfeit. The rule was put in 10 years ago.

Harlem, which had finished second in its district, forfeited the Northern Divisional game to Shelby. Harlem was dumped into the loser's bracket and won on Friday night, but on a quick turnaround Saturday morning it lost in overtime and was eliminated.

"We had that talk about life being tough and you roll with the punches and how you pick yourself up," Harlem coach Harlan Mount said. "It took a lot out of the team."

Almost a week later, you could hear the dismay in the 48-year-old Mount's voice, as if the talk and the lesson did not soothe his team's disappointment. The Wildcats had made a 168-mile trip only to be left face-down with an improbable forfeit, which goes down in the books as a 2-0 defeat.

http://highschool.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=922635