Boys' basketball: Shattered glass backboard halts game

The Santa Monica tournament quarterfinal game between West Ranch and Alemany was halted on Thursday night with 3:10 left in the first quarter when West Ranch's 6-foot-8 Ako Kaluna shattered the glass backboard with a dunk after a foul had been called.

Glass fell from the backboard, and Kaluna suffered small cuts around his wrists as the crowd looked on in awe.

"It was awesome," Kaluna said.

The powerful Kaluna broke a rim at West Ranch last year, and the school has ordered more than one rim in case his strength comes into play again.

The game has been delayed as officials decide whether to move the two remaining games to an adjacent gym.

-- Eric Sondheimer

Photo: The shattered backboard at Santa Monica High. Credit: Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times