High School Boys Basketball

BY KIMBERLEY A. MARTIN

So, I'm sitting at my desk a couple days ago and the phone rings.

The caller proceeds to tell me that he read Wednesday's round-up item on Tobias Harris becoming the all-time leading scorer at Hills West with 735 points (surpassing Andre Lawrie, who had 730 in 2003).

The problem: The caller says he scored "well over 1,000" points by the time he graduated Hills West in 1999.

My first thought: get Bill Mitaritonna on the phone. STAT.

After playing phone tag for a day and a half, I finally reached him Friday afternoon. Turns out, Mitaritonna had asked for all of the old stat and record books when he took over the program in 2000. But all he was given was one book from the 1999-2000 season. For whatever reason, meticulous records weren't kept prior to that year.

So based on Mitaritonna’s stats, Lawrie was named the school's all-time leading scorer five years ago. (Strangely enough, no one protested that record.)

And with no way to prove otherwise, the coach has no choice but to go forward with the stats in his possession – meaning, as of right now, Harris holds the record.

But, Mitaritonna said, "If someone can provide me with old scorebooks that would be awesome."

The coach told Harris about the supposed record discrepancy, but the standout sophomore wasn’t fazed.

"He knows that -- barring injury," Mitaritonna said, "he has a legitimate shot of scoring 2,000 points."

And by then, all of this will be moot.