High School Player Has a Quarter to Remember

Kobe Bryant scored 28 points in the fourth quarter of his 81-point game against the Toronto Raptors. However, what Duke recruit Jon Scheyer of Glenbrook North High in Illinois did in a game earlier this season may be even more impressive.

With his future coach, Mike Krzyzewski, in the crowd, Scheyer scored 38 points in the fourth quarter -- with 21 coming in a jaw-dropping 1-minute 15-second stretch.

With 1:24 left to play and his team trailing, 71-58, Scheyer made five three-point shots and six of seven free throws to make it 81-79.

North High ended up losing, 85-79, but Scheyer, who finished with 52 points, had put on quite a show.

Trivia time: What does Seattle Seahawk linebacker Kevin Bentley have in common with Toi Cook, a cornerback for the San Francisco 49ers when they beat the San Diego Chargers, 49-26, in the 1995 Super Bowl?

He truly was all wet: Tom Jackson, a former Denver Bronco linebacker, worked his first Super Bowl as a broadcaster for ESPN in 1988, when the Broncos lost to the Washington Redskins, 42-10, at San Diego.

On a conference call with reporters Wednesday, Jackson said that after the game he had to get from Jack Murphy Stadium to a nearby building where ESPN was doing its postgame show. He decided to take a shortcut and came upon a creek.

“I figured it probably wasn’t very deep, so I took off my shoes and socks and rolled up my pants,” he said. “The next sound your heard was me sinking into the creek.”

Although Jackson changed clothes to go on the air, there was steam coming off his head under the studio lights. ESPN partner Chris Berman, pointing out that Jackson’s Broncos had lost the Super Bowl for a third time, said, “You must have felt like jumping in a lake.”

A big difference: Berman, who will be the host of the Super Bowl pregame show on ABC on Sunday, said he and his ESPN colleagues begin preparing for the NFL season in July.

“We’re just like the football teams and players,” he said. “However, one thing is different. We are guaranteed to get to the Super Bowl.”

Looking back: On this day in 1954, Bevo Francis of NAIA Rio Grande (Ohio) College set the collegiate scoring record with 113 points in a 134-95 victory over Hillsdale College of Michigan. As a member of the freshman team the previous season, Francis scored 116 points, but it didn’t count as a record because it was against a junior college team. During his varsity years, Francis also had point totals of 84, 82 and 72 points.

Trivia answer: They both played at Montclair Prep in Van Nuys.

And finally: In response to Francis scoring big against weak opponents, Coach Sax Elliott of Los Angeles State scheduled a game against the Chapman junior varsity, and 6-foot-6 center John Barber scored 188 points in a 206-82 victory.

The next day, Barber scored 103 against the Los Angeles City College JVs, and the day after that, Barber had 150 against a team of sportswriters.

Larry Stewart can be reached at larry.stewart@latimes.com.