Usually, half-court shots that end up on high school highlight reels land there because they were scored in clutch, buzzer-beating situations, often with a game on the line. During a recent Florida boys basketball game, however, the shot that delivered the most oohs and aahs came during halftime, hit by a school teacher during an intermission competition. While the shot itself may not have been outstandingly memorable, the teacher's reaction definitely was.
As first noted by Deadspin, Palmer (Fla.) Trinity School journalism and history teacher David Cutler was brought down to the court during halftime of Palmer Trinity's victory against Pinecrest (Fla.) High. His charge was simple: Hit a 44-foot shot, win a bottle of Gatorade.
Incredibly, Cutler delivered despite shooting with fairly horrific form. After taking two shoulder-high dribbles, Cutler tossed up a general heave that bounced off the backboard and rattled in, sending up waves of mild amusement among the Palmer Trinity crowd.
Cutler, on the other hand, was much more than "mildly" excited. Instead, the teacher went completely mental, jumping and spinning like a third-grader who ate the whole box of Honey Smacks and then won the lottery.
Cutler even goes into a classic, European soccer-style airplane victory lap. In fact, he's about one knee slide away from a World Cup winning-goal celebration. Except Cutler didn't win the World Cup, he won a bottle of Gatorade.
It goes without saying that Cutler's celebration is far over the top. Still, it's also wildly entertaining, and serves as a fitting notice of just part of what makes prep basketball so much fun. After all, if a random fan hit a similar shot at an NBA game and was told they would win a bottle of Gatorade rather than a car, they'd probably be much more upset than excited.
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