Kansas high school player commits dirtiest foul of the year on breakaway dunk
@sportsinkansas pic.twitter.com/zQbWVdQ6rb
— Hayden Gillum (@tyler2544) March 10, 2018
Don’t worry, Grayson Allen, the most flagrant foul of the year has nothing to do with you.
In fact, it has nothing to do with college basketball at all. Which might very well be fortunate in this case because it’s hard to imagine an NCAA or NBA player not getting whooped on the court for what took place during a Kansas 1A-I high school semifinal.
During Hanover’s victory over Centralia to advance to the title game, Thomas Atkins was racing down the court for a fast break dunk when he was ruthlessly shoved from behind and into a support beam for the hoop.
The video shows a clear two-handed push and it’s not even remotely close to a basketball play. Watching Atkins bounce to the floor is painful just to watch. Unsurprisingly, Centralia was immediately called for a flagrant foul.
The incident occurred during the third quarter, and while Atkins was initially taken out of the game, was able to return and finished with 18 points for Hanover.
Watching the gym react in horror to the foul is one thing. Watching Hanover’s bench restrain itself is quite another. In the short term, it’s hard to imagine not wanting to run onto the court to back up your teammate. In the long run, advancing to the state title game without having any players suspended is the best revenge out there.
Kudos to those boys for keeping their composure and knowing a championship will feel better than any immediate retaliation would have.
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Blake Schuster is a writer for The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at blakeschuster@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Schustee