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Oak Bay basketball player scores record 96 points in a single game

Diego Maffia, playing for Oak Bay High School, scored what is thought to be the most points in a basketball game by a B.C.
Diego Maffia
Oak Bay High's Diego Maffia, right, with teammate Jaime Palamos. Maffia scored what is thought to be the most points in a basketball game by a B.C. high school player in a game on Saturday, Feb. 9, 2019.

Diego Maffia, playing for Oak Bay High School, scored what is thought to be the most points in a basketball game by a B.C. high school player — 96 — as the Bays defeated the Ross Sheppard Thunderbirds of Edmonton 114-88 in the 46th annual Western Canada tournament Saturday in Kelowna. “I am shocked and simply amazed,” Maffia said. “I don’t even know what to think.”

The epic achievement was not against a lowly team. While Oak Bay is ranked No. 6 in B.C., Ross Sheppard is an honourable mention on the Alberta high school top-10 poll.

“I got into a groove early. I was just feeling it, I guess,” Maffia said.

“I said to the guys at one point in the second half: ‘I hope I hit 60 today.’ A teammate told me I already had 73. I thought to myself: ‘Oh my god!’ ”

Maffia’s previous career best was the 67 points he scored this season against Walnut Grove of Langley. He was brought to the bench Saturday with two minutes remaining in the game, four points shy of 100.

“Probably [the coaches] did not realize how many points I was at,” said the Grade 12 student.

“My teammates provided me amazing support and were feeding me the ball and are so happy for me. The standing ovation from the crowd was very nice.”

Maffia and his family came to Canada from Brazil when he was in Grade 9.

Rich Fast, Oak Bay High’s athletic director, said Maffia is also a standout in soccer and volleyball, leading the Bays to the B.C. championship tournaments in both sports in the fall.

“In an era when kids are specializing in one sport, he plays three well, and could go on to the next level [in university] in all three sports,” Fast said. “And he is such a well-grounded kid.”

Outside of provincial championships, high school scoresheet record-keeping can be spotty, especially in tournaments.

But the former B.C. high school single-game record is thought to be the 82 points scored by Greg DeVries of the L.V. Rogers Secondary Bombers of Nelson in 1991 against Grand Forks.

cdheensaw@timescolonist.com