Memorial boys basketball player shatters backboard: 'It's not how we drew it up'

EVANSVILLE — Well, that's something you don't see every day.

Thursday evening's Southern Indiana Athletic Conference boys basketball showdown between Memorial and Reitz was moved at the last minute from the Kent Athletic Center to The Hill. The reason?

One of Memorial's players shattered a backboard on the Tigers' court.

They were getting loose before shootaround when senior Tucker Tornatta jumped to the rim and hung from it long enough for his body weight to break the rim away from the backboard. The glass shattered. The basket was left dangling seemingly by a thread. It was not like any of Tornatta's countless dunks he made throughout the season.

"I'm kind of heavy myself," the 6-foot-7 Tornatta said. "So I wasn't surprised that it came down. But at that moment, I was."

Less than 40 minutes before the junior varsity game was set for tipoff, Memorial athletics announced on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the games were being moved to Reitz.

"It's not how we drew it up," Memorial coach Heath Howington said. "We were excited to play in the Kent Center in front of a packed student section with our band. And we didn't get that opportunity. We still had a chance to come over to play the same game against the same opponent, and our student section showed up for us tonight. Just real thankful for this opportunity tonight."

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The Tigers ultimately won 64-58 to snap a four-game skid to Reitz. But Tornatta's day became even more eventful when he exited midway through the first quarter after running head-first into Reitz freshman Jaylan Mitchell. Tornatta missed a 3-pointer and was chasing the rebound as he collided with Mitchell. Both players required stitches.

Mitchell had a cut on his eyebrow that was glued during the game as he finished with a team-high 19 points. But Tornatta did not score or return. He texted his teammates and Howington postgame congratulating them on the victory.

"He's going to bounce back. We had his back today," said junior Luke Ellspermann, who finished with a game-high 27 points. "It's just a lot of togetherness that we have. Guys stepped up, and that's what it's about."

Tornatta entered the day as the SIAC's second-leading scorer and third-leading rebounder, averaging 16.9 points and 8.9 boards per game.

Howington said he was unsure when Memorial's backboard would be fixed, but they celebrated an important victory on a weird night.

"We had to go unscripted today," Howington said. "But (I'm) proud of our entire program for not flinching and just coming over here and playing the game we love. Special thanks to the Reitz athletic department and basketball program for accommodating these student-athletes tonight."

Courier & Press sports reporter Treasure Washington can be reached via her email, treasure.washington@courierpress.com, and on X, formerly known as Twitter, @Twashington490.

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Evansville Memorial basketball player Tucker Tornatta breaks backboard