'In the groove' to set record

Photo: Facebook

It was a basketball game for the record books, and one that Diego Maffia won’t soon forget.

The 17-year-old point guard for Victoria’s Oak Bay scored 96 points in a single game at the Western Canada Basketball tournament in Kelowna on Saturday.

Maffia, who is in Grade 12, carried his team to a 114 to 88 victory over the Ross Shepard Thunderbirds from Edmonton.

“We all knew the 60-point record from before, so I think I was trying to go for that first, so they kept feeding me the ball,” said Maffia.

When he went to the bench in the third quarter, his teammates told him he had 73 points.

“I was just shocked,” he said.

And things just kept getting better.

“I just started getting the ball every time and scoring and scoring. I just got into a groove,” he said.

Before the game in Kelowna, the most points he'd ever scored in a single game was 67. After the game, everyone kept asking him what he ate for breakfast.

“I had the usual.. the eggs, sausage and ham and all that. I just think I got into a groove and it felt like I was never going to miss. I don’t think it has anything to do with my pregame routine,” he said.

The old record was 60 put up by Alex Dewer and before that NBA Miami Heat player Kelly Olynyk of Kamloops with 59 points.

Maffia, who was born in Brazil, moved to Victoria with his family in Grade 9 and he used to be a soccer player.

“I started getting really serious playing basketball, and I just fell in love and that’s all I do now,” he said.

The six-foot-one player said he’s received a few offers to play university ball and is waiting to make his decision, but for now he is focused on getting his team to playoffs.

“Right now, we are No. 1 ... so we are hoping to win and go to regionals as a top five seed, hopefully,” he said.