Sometimes high school basketball games can seem unfair, with one player dominating a game so thoroughly that he or she seemingly could have won the game single-handedly. Amazingly, one player in Arkansas almost accomplished that statistical feat in one of the more dominant performances seen anywhere during the 2011-12 season.
As reported by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Little Rock (Ark.) Strong guard Stetson Billings pumped in an astounding 57 points during his Bulldogs' 89-65 victory against Bearden (Ark.) High. Billings finished within eight points of his opponents' total, an accomplishment made all the impressive by his 16 rebounds and 10 assists, a triple-double of true scoring note.
"I kind of felt like I was up there (in scoring)," Billings told the Democrat-Gazette. "I didn't exactly know until my teammates told me what I had. I was just playing the game."
Clearly, he was playing the game at an entirely different level. After crunching a few numbers, one learns that Billings scored an average of nearly two points per minute in the game (1.78 to be exact) in what was both the first triple-double and 50-point game in his high school career.
As a guard, the Arkansas-Little Rock signee had to flex every aspect of his professional arsenal to reach that 50-point threshold. The lanky 6-foot-5 senior said he connected on threes, driving jumpers and plenty of free throws, both to atone for missed shots when he was fouled and and-ones after made buckets in the lane.
A critic might complain that Bearden should have employed a more focused defense to limit Billings' touches, but it turns out they tried that, too. According to the Democrat-Gazette, Bearden used a box-and-one defense throughout the loss with one man focusing on Billings throughout the loss … it just couldn't contain the guard.
"For a game like that ... you feel like you can make whatever," Billings told the Democrat-Gazette.
Based on his stat line alone, that sounds like a pretty accurate assessment of the senior's performance.
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