Texas high school girls basketball playoff game ends 78-0

No fallout yet from Coahoma's shutout of Tornillo in Class 3A District 2 bi-district play on Monday; Trudges up memories, issues from Covenant's 100-0 win over Dallas Academy 16 years ago

A girls basketball playoff game ended 78-0 in West Texas / David Smith

The score, pretty much in any athletic event, catches one's eye: 78-0.

In football? We've seen it and usually there's some squawking about running up the score.

Baseball or softball? Wouldn't seem enough light in the day to rack up 78 runs, though in 1928 a baseball team in Iowa (Atlantic) pulled out a 109-0 win over Griswold. According to MaxPreps historian Kevin Askeland, the it was the most runs not only by one team but two teams combined in a high school game.

The 78-0 score we reference took place Monday in a Texas girls basketball playoff game, when Coahoma knocked off Tornillo in a Class 3A District II bi-district game in Monahans, a small West Texas town about 30 miles outside of Odessa.

• UIL PLAYOFF BRACKETS | Texas 3A D2 playoffs

According to MRT.com, the Bulldogs (25-4) will move on to the area round Friday against Slaton after Baylor Wright scored 24 points, Madisyn Renteria add 17 and Gabby Cox 11 in the win. They scored 20 points in the first and second quarters, 16 in the third and 22 more in the fourth.

Sportsmanship among other issues come up in any big lopsided score, which has yet to surface with much force, though there was some banter on a Sideline Sports' Facebook page.

Playoff Basketball 🏀: Coahoma defeats Tornillo 78-0 to advance to the Area Round!@CISDBulldogs @newswest9 @NewsWest9Sports pic.twitter.com/nPt7uEJM6A

— Cory McIntyre (@CoryMcIntyreTv) February 11, 2025

Among the claims were that Coahoma had starters in the game during the fourth quarter — "I hope the AD had a conversation with that head coach," a reader wrote, claiming he's coached girls basketball for 23 seasons.

• GIRLS BASKETBALL | Full UIL brackets

Another noted that Tornillo simply "had opportunities to score and didn't," while others said that a "watered down" playoff system was to blame for the crazy score. Other scores backed up the latter point: 88-13, 85-15 and 86-26.

We weren't there, didn't see "highlights," and aren't regulars around the region. Perhaps Tornillo just had a very bad night.

The Coyotes finished the season 7-18 and were outscored 900-488. They lost previous games this season 50-5, 28-9 and 37-1. Yet, they were in the playoffs, fourth in district play at 2-6.

Coahoma is now 12-0 in district and have outscored foes 1,413-903 on the season. The Bulldogs' previous largest margin of victory before Monday was 58-16.

"Great group of young ladies and wonderful coaches," wrote one Coahoma fan on Facebook.

History lessons

The 78-point win was a nail-biter compared to some in the history of high school girls basketball.

In 2015, Arroyo Valley of California beat Bloomington, 161-2, and for it coach Michael Anderson was suspended two games. He used a full-court press the first half en route to a 104-1 halftime edge and later apologized, stating that the moment "just got away from me."

That came 38 years in the same state after Riverside Poly's Cheryl Miller scored 105 points by herself in a 179-15 win over Riverside Notre Vista. There were no apologies after that one, though Miller might have wanted one from her coach.

"I didn't play the last two minutes," she said.

The closest both in proximity and score to Monday's game occurred in in Texas in 2009, when Covenant School coach Micah Grimes was fired following his team's 100-0 win over Dallas Academy. The scores after the first three quarters of the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools game were 35-0, 59-0 and 88-0.

The media attention after that game was intense with segments on CBS' Saturday Early Show, ABC's Good Morning America and NBC's Today Show.

Dallas Academy didn't make a big deal of the loss, but withdrew from league play for the rest of the season. Convent officials apologized for the lopsided score and stated "It will never happen again."

What got Grimes fired was sticking to his guns, stating that he and his team didn't run up the score a week later.

“I respectfully disagree with the apology, especially the notion that the Covenant School girls basketball team should feel 'embarrassed' or 'ashamed,’ “ Grimes wrote about a week after the game. “We played the game as it was meant to be played and would not intentionally run up the score on any opponent. Although a wide-margin victory is never evidence of compassion, my girls played with honor and integrity and showed respect to Dallas Academy.”

National debate

A national debate followed the 100-0 game. Positive Coaching Alliance founder Jim Thompson noted that going against an obvious overmatched opponents should require starting reserves, letting them work on special skills they weren't good at.

"Blow-out games provides as many teachable moments as do highly-contest ones," Thompson told us back then.

But a fellow coach Richard Dyer disagreed.

“I would be more embarrassed if I was losing and the other team started dribbling with their left hands or centers playing guard,” he wrote. “That is embarrassing because now you are telling me that I’m such a joke that I can beat you with my left hand. What’s next? Blind folds?"

 Such debates and lopsided scores hold true today, and likely will after Coahoma's win. Then again, unlike the Covenant win, there's been little media attention. Then again, again, 100-0 draws more eyes than 78-0.

A final explanation for the lack of attention thus far may be there's just less prep media period, especially in pockets like West Texas. And the ones that are, may not even be human.

Like this MaxPreps report with a seemingly sarcastic headline that was simply generated by a computer: Tornillo Falls Short of Coahoma in the Playoffs.

A full 78 points short.