1981-82:  Zarecky Thought He’d Seen it All

“I’m confused,” said Sweetwater coach Gary Zarecky.

“I’m baffled,” added the Red Devils mentor.

Sweetwater had just beaten Castle Park, 94-11, in a Metropolitan Mesa League game, which followed an earlier, 106-37 Sweetwater rout of the Trojans.

What made Zarecky (Zar-skee) figuratively scratch his head was that the host Trojans attempted only five shots from the field…and made two.

Castle Park actually led, 1-0, before the game started.  Sweetwater had been called for a technical foul during pregame warmups.

The first-quarter score was 22-1, 42-5 at halftime, and 66-5 after three quarters.

“Their coach (Dave Holmgren) told me their goal was to hold us under one-hundred points and they seemed very pleased to have done so,” said Zarecky.

The Trojans “strategy” worked.

“They would drive the lane and, even with a good shot, circle back under and out to eat up time,” said Zarecky.

“I’ve never been involved in a game like this,” understated the coach whose team won 20 games and a league title for the fourth year in a row.

Terry Fields led the Red Devils with 28 points followed by Tyrone Miller with 20 and Aaron Combs with 16.

Beaten by 83 points, Castle Park, which finished with a 4-17 record, had not been part of the section’s most lopsided defeat.

Mount Miguel was on the outs by 96 points in a 127-31 loss to Helix in 1969-70.