PHILADELPHIA Rice snaps scoring mark from Wilt's school days
The Strawberry Mansion senior has 2,209 career points.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Wilt Chamberlain's Philadelphia high school career scoring record is history, shattered before Maureece Rice's mom could get the celebration in place for her son.
"I had bigger plans," Debra Rice said. "I wanted him to wait another day so I could have a cake and all."
The cake can wait. The record wouldn't.
Wilt's record fell Friday when Rice sank a 3-pointer with 1:52 left in a tournament consolation game.
The 18-year-old senior at Strawberry Mansion High School finished with 44 points, pushing his four-year total to 2,209. Chamberlain had 2,206 during his three-year varsity career, which ended in 1955.
Rice, a 6-foot guard, was tied for the mark before he made his 3-pointer. Afterward, students and teammates mobbed him, and his father was given the game ball during a brief ceremony.
"A lot of good players have come through the Public League and didn't break it," Rice said. "It feels great."
Strawberry Mansion beat Olney High 76-63. Strawberry Mansion dropped into the consolation bracket after losing to Bartram on Friday in the semifinals of the Olney Christmas Tournament. Rice scored 25 points in that game.
Strong showing
Rice averaged 32.1 points as a junior, and the Knights won the Public League title for the second time in three years. He scored a school-record 63 points against Bodine on Jan. 31 -- tied for seventh most in city history.
Chamberlain has three of the top four games, led by a 90-point performance during his senior year at Overbrook High.
The Knights are 8-3 this season, including an 85-47 defeat to St. Vincent-St. Mary High of Akron, Ohio, and its 6-8 phenom, LeBron James, last weekend. James outscored Rice 26 points to 13.
Chamberlain, who died in 1999, went from Philly to Kansas and later became one of the greatest centers in NBA history. He averaged 30.1 points in 14 seasons, won four MVP awards and played on two championship teams, with the Philadelphia 76ers and the Los Angeles Lakers.
He averaged 50.4 points and 25.7 rebounds during the 1961-62 season and scored a record 100 points against the New York Knicks on March 2, 1962. Chamberlain is third on the NBA's career scoring list with 31,419 points, behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Karl Malone.