With the 35-point running-clock (mercy) rule in place, I was impressed with Alamo Navajo’s 107-13 win against Corona on Jan. 20 and posted a photo with the score to a high school sports fan page on Facebook.

It caused a lot of debate, with some expressions of disbelief and questions as to why something hadn’t been done to prevent this “running up the score?” If you’ve ever wandered into a sports fan page on Facebook, you know things can get nasty quickly, and opinions can be formed by someone who had zero attachment to the game other than seeing a 107-13 score.

If you need to become more familiar with the 35-point in New Mexico high school basketball: A continuous clock will run in the second half any time one team has at least a 35-point lead. The only clock stoppages will be during a timeout, the break between the third and fourth quarter, or “if officials determine it is necessary for safety reasons.”

Alamo was up 41-0 after the first quarter of play, and Cougars’ coach Lemuel Guerro had already pulled his entire starting unit. There’s not much depth on Alamo’s roster, and all ten players saw their fair share of action as the lead increased to 71-1 at the half.

The Cougars didn’t press or trap, but they played a base defense and created turnovers that turned into more points. Corona wouldn’t come up with a field goal until the 2:47 mark of the third, and when the SonBlazers did score, Alamo’s fans broke into a roar and cheered.

While Corona didn’t do much scoring, Alamo’s fans continued to root for more buckets and applauded just as loud for the SonBlazers’ baskets as they did for the Cougars.

All of these points were overlooked by the naysayers, who only saw a 107-13 score and left remarks pretty much along the line of “lack of class” for “running up the score.”

Nothing could be farther from the truth, but at the same time, I don’t see a problem with a basketball team pummeling another one – heck, it’s a magnificent accomplishment considering the “mercy” rule now in place.

Short of asking his team to lay down and stop playing, there wasn’t much Guerro could have done. Truth be told, that’s the last thing the SonBlazers would have wanted.

I know Alamo has taken its fair share of beatings over the years, and their matchup against Magdalena (57-18 loss) at the start of the year wasn’t pretty. Instead of curling up into a fetal position and crying, Alamo built on that loss and is 16-4 and 3-0 in district play.

They’ve been classy all the way.

It’s worth noting that when the two teams shook hands after the game, there were no angry looks or tears on the SonBlazers’ faces. Instead, I saw glimpses of determination and words of encouragement from both sides.

That’s because basketball is still a game to kids, and they don’t walk away emotionally scarred from a 94-point loss, but I’m not sure the same can be said for a few Facebooking “adults” who weren’t even at the game.

Russell Huffman | Assistant Editor