From a suspense standpoint, it’s never much fun from a spectator’s viewpoint when a game of any kind becomes lopsided right away.
That happens often, including a girls varsity high-school basketball game on Jan. 14 between host McLean Highlanders and Marshall Statesmen. McLean built a 9-0 lead in the contest, was ahead 14-2 at the end of the first period and won going away, 70-43.
It was clear after that 9-0 start, and certainly at the end of the first quarter, that the contest had the potential to be a rout. Spectators wanting to be entertained with close suspenseful games are quickly disappointed in such contests.
Same happened during this past fall’s high-school football season when the host and eventual champion Madison Warhawks led the Centreville Wildcats, 14-0 at the end of the first quarter of the 6D North Region title game. Madison won, 35-7.
Madison built big early leads in many of its games during the 2021 campaign, eliminating any suspense factor.
We’ll see what happens the rest of this week in many other high-school games and events.
– Dave Facinoli
dfacinoli@sungazette.net