[Mariebl]

There are no shot clocks in high school. They could have eased up when the score was 30-0 and used the opportunity to just practice dribbling and passing.

Now, I'm definitely ignorant on this subject. I rummaged in Google, and it looks like you're right--there are no shot clocks in Texas high school basketball, although some other states have them. So, that certainly opens up plenty of possibilities for keeping the score low.

Is it really sportsmanlike, though, to treat your opponents as being completely unworthy of your efforts, so that you don't even try to play the game as a game, you simply use the other team as fodder for a practice session? I'm not trying to be nasty here; that's a serious question.

[aruanan]

Is it really sportsmanlike, though, to treat your opponents as being completely unworthy of your efforts, so that you don't even try to play the game as a game, you simply use the other team as fodder for a practice session? I'm not trying to be nasty here; that's a serious question.

To hold back is bad sportsmanship. The purpose of the game is the playing of the game, not using the playing of the game to make sure the other team doesn't feel too bad about losing or to take a dive so the other team can feel good about winning. If someone's best isn't good enough, losing will demonstrate this to them. I'd hope the parents of the winning team would hire a lawyer on behalf of the coach and show the people who fired him what losing really means.