Dec 29, 2002 3 min read

PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Maureece Rice’s mother didn’t want her son to break Wilt Chamberlain’s Philadelphia high school career scoring record Friday. “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.

Rice, who needed 42 points going into a game against Olney to break a record that has stood since 1955, scored a season-high 44. Rice’s Strawberry Mansion team beat host Olney 76-59 and Rice exited the gym with 2,209 career points, three more than Chamberlain scored in a three-year Overbrook High varsity career that ended in 1955.

“The record’s been up there for over 40 years,” said Rice, a four-year varsity starter. “A lot of good players have come through the Public League and didn’t break it. It feels great.”

The 6-foot guard broke the record on a 3-pointer – a shot that didn’t exist when Chamberlain played – from the left of the key with 1:52 left in the game.

Teammates, fans and family mobbed the court. Rice’s father, Curtis Toomer, returned to the stands cradling the basketball.

“When we left the house today, I said maybe we should wait until we had more family members around,” Toomer said. “He said, ‘No, way. I’m going to do it today.”‘

Rice did it by scoring from the inside early and from the outside late. He had nine points after one quarter on three putbacks, a layup and a foul shot. He found his outside shooting stroke in the second quarter and had 21 points at the half.

The 18-year-old Strawberry Mansion senior, who was averaging 24.3 points this season going into the contest, erupted for 14 points in the third period. At that point, everyone in the Olney gym – including Rice – knew history was in the making.

“I was still playing my game,” Rice said. “But I hit a couple 3-pointers in the third quarter. I knew I was getting closer and closer.”

Rice hit one of two free throws with 6:52 left. A reverse layup pulled him within a 3-point shot of Chamberlain. A 3-pointer with 2:21 left tied the record. Rice hit his sixth 3-pointer of the game seconds later to break it.

The record is the latest highlight in Rice’s high school career. As a freshman, he led Strawberry Mansion to its first Public League title in school history. He scored 32.1 points per game last year to lead the Knights to another league championship.

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.

But the Strawberry Mansion guard, who is being recruited by a number of Division I colleges, bounced back in record-breaking fashion Friday.

“The feeling’s indescribable,” Toomer said. “I’m just glad it’s over for him. This takes the pressure off.”

Chamberlain, who died in 1999, went from Philly to Kansas and 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 he 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.