The girl who broke Wilt Chamberlain's record

PHILADELPHIA - Linda Page always will be known as The Girl Who Scored 100 Points.

But now, a quarter-century after earning national acclaim, she's much more interested in becoming The Woman Who Helped Someone Else Do It . . . Or at least come remotely close . . . Or at least become a better overall shooter.

On Feb. 13, 1981, in front of 53 spectators at Philadelphia's Murrell Dobbins Tech, the 5-11 Page ding-ding-ding-dinged her way to, yes, 100 points in a 131-37 destruction of Jules Mastbaum Tech.

She made 41-for-58 (71 percent) from the floor and 18-for-21 (86 percent) at the line while adding 19 rebounds, five assists and seven steals. She also posted six three-point plays, as in the old-fashioned version of a made shot and a free throw; the three-point shot would not be part of Public League action for seven more seasons.

"I might have had 15 threes," Page says.

As massacres go, this one was blood-free and mostly painless. Dobbins never pressed full-court and the starters, except for Page, played no more than half the game.

Ten years later, when asked whether the afternoon - that 13th happened to be a Friday - had been embarrassing for her and/or her team, one Mastbaum player answered, "Not really. Matter of fact, it was the highlight of our season. It was the only way we were going to have a highlight. When she hit 100, we clapped for her. We were pretty excited, too. We were in on history."

Speaking of history . . .

Page feels the intervening years have not been kind to shooting, which is why she's determined to affect change.

At assorted local gyms - she hopes to someday have her own facility - Page operates clinics for teams and individuals (all ages) with the idea of improving shooting skills.

She still recalls being mesmerized as a youth by the shot-making wizardry of George Lehmann, a star in the old Eastern League and legendary camp instructor, and she experiences euphoric feelings when she's able to perform similar feats for her clients.

"I'm not just talking. I've done it," says Page, 43. "And I still can do it."

She added, "I feel like my life has come full circle. I had all those great experiences as a player and now I'm trying to help this generation have them, too. Basketball starts with shooting. You have to be able to put the ball in the basket. Do you see some of these players today? Can't shoot at all! It's sad."

Page mentioned she was planning to contact the Sixers with hopes of bringing her ideas to them. Don't laugh. Even in a contest with Kyle Korver, the gal they call "Hawkeye" would likely be favored.

Flashback: Feb. 14, 1981. The Philadelphia Daily News hits the streets and the banner headline on the back page reads, "Sixers Could've Used Page." It tied together Philly's loss to Washington and, of course, Linda's laceration of Mastbaum.

On the front cover was a picture of Page and Julius Erving. The wheels turned quickly after news of her outburst spread. She was invited to that night's game, hustled down to the Spectrum, walked onto the court and was introduced alongside Erving.

"I went to heaven that night," she said later in 1991. Now she says with a chuckle, "The whole thing's a blur. I still look at that picture. I look like I was scared. I'm really a shy person. That was a lot of attention."

Page was hardly a one-game wonder. Her 70-game varsity career produced a both-genders city record of 2,383 points (34.0 average) and her senior-season norm for 24 games was 48.2. Some guy named Wilt Chamberlain (Overbrook `55) had been the record-holder with 2,206 career points and a senior-season average of 44.5.

As the Mastbaum game began, the big event was going to be Page's reaching of 2,000 points. She entered with 1,963 and hit two-grand on a breakaway layup (pass from Freda Harris) with 4:51 left in the second quarter.

Page finished the half with 53 and coach Tony Coma told the players she needed only 38 more to surpass Chamberlain's Philadelphia single-game high-school high of 90. He also said he was sure they would like to someday say how proud they were to play in such a special game.

Did they resist? Not quite.

As the players broke the huddle, they bellowed, "Break Wilt's Record!!"

Coma, who died in 1994, was a great coach and interesting case study. He first gained notice as the boys' coach at John Bartram - his most noteworthy product was NBA all-timer Earl Monroe - and then had strong teams at Cheyney. He parlayed that success into a job at Cornell, but lasted just 1 ¹/₂ seasons while going 7-36.

Five of six black players quit the team during his first season. The next he strongly suspected that most of his players were using drugs, and that two were pushing. He resigned over what he considered the administration's indifference.

Page's emergence gave Coma a chance to restore his image, to thumb his nose at those who had skewered him, even in Sports Illustrated, during his Cornell stint.

A month before 100 became Page's number for life, it appeared it would be 87. She hit that total against Roxborough and Coma then promised "this is the last assault" on Wilt's record and "nothing will be done on purpose from now on in."

Turned out he had a change of heart.

Coma said right after the 100-point game, darn near spitting out the words, "I received all kinds of adverse criticism when Linda scored 87 points. It came from unnamed people, mostly those in skirts. When that happened, I couldn't wait to turn her loose again. The (critics) didn't realize Linda made our league known throughout the country. They failed to see the forest for the trees.

"Linda Page is a one-in-a-million player. She's a Wilt Chamberlain to the girls' game."

Page, who now lives in Delaware County, grew up in a loving, two-parent home near 55th and Willows, in Southwest Philly. A strong student, she attended Conwell Middle Magnet School, in Kensington, and proceeded to Dobbins from there.

She signed with North Carolina State in March 1981 in part because Charles "Hawkeye" Whitney had been her favorite player. She scored 2,307 points ("They never quite turned me loose down there"), shot 85.3 percent at the line, claimed 640 rebounds and still holds six school records.

After playing overseas, she returned to Philly and put her degree to use at first as a bail interviewer and later a juvenile probation officer. She later switched to counseling at-risk youths.

"Before I'd see them on the back end," she noted. "Now I try to help them on the front end. It brings a lot of satisfaction."

One day, in a staff meeting, someone mentioned to Page that a New York City schoolgirl named Epiphanny Prince had rung up 113 points.

"I said I wished we had the three-pointer," she cracked.

Page's by-quarter breakdown for the 100-point game was 27-26-27-20. Danita Gilliam was next in line with nine points. Ruth Evans and Susan Brooks tallied six apiece while Lisa Gilliam (five), Linda Nutt (three) and Harris (two) completed the scoring.

"People don't realize, but that really was a team effort," Page says. "You don't score 100 points without having supportive teammates. Freda kept passing me the ball, Ruth kept setting screens . . . Everyone was part of it."

Page tied Chamberlain's 90-point mark with 5:01 left as she dribbled behind her back and nailed a 10-foot jumper. She hit 92 at 4:04 by following a teammate's missed free throw. Three consecutive jumpers brought her to 98 and then . . . She passed! She passed!

Danita Gilliam missed the free throw on a possible three-point play and Page flubbed back-to-back shots (follow, subsequent jumper) for only the second time all game. She grabbed another rebound, got hacked and swished two free throws with 48 seconds left.

"I wanted to break Wilt's record and I'm glad I broke Wilt's record," she gushed thereafter.

Is she still glad?

"People always bring it up and I know it's part of me," she says. "It was important. It helped me get remembered as one of the best players ever, one of the best shooters ever, and it came at a time when women's basketball was starved for attention. I feel I was one of the pioneers. I'm thankful for how coach Coma worked with me and brought me along and gave me a chance to do those special things.

"It did bring about some jealousy. At a (pro tryout), a girl threw the ball off somebody's leg rather than pass it to me. There's a lot of ego out there. I was never into that. I always played for fun."

And now she pours her heart into teaching.

Page, who spent the previous two seasons coaching Prep Charter's girls' team, can be quite the demanding clinician. She makes her advanced pupils hit shots from 18 spots on the floor, and moves from one to the other require 10 consecutive makes.

"The kids need to know they can do this," she says. "It's not that hard if you have the proper form, concentration and confidence. This builds confidence. And self-esteem. And the kids can carry that into other areas of their lives.

"Always do your best. Believe in yourself. Never give up. I try to teach all those lessons through what I'm doing now. I'm so excited about this."

And flexible.

"I relax the rules a little for some of the kids," she says. "If they're not that advanced, they have to make seven in a row at each spot. Oh, and I recently worked with an autistic child. She had to make four in a row. And she did!

"Her mother says she loves ball, but never gets to play outside with the other kids. It was beautiful seeing her come out of her shell, and feeling safe on the court."

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(c) 2006, Philadelphia Daily News. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service.