- Details
- Category: Current Issue
caption:
1,000 Points
Chase Anderson is surrounded by his teammates immediately after scoring his 1,000th career point with 3:39 left in the third quarter of a 67-50 win over the Redmen. Photo by Greg Smith/The Woodstock Academy.
The nerves didn’t kick in right away.
Woodstock Academy senior Chase Anderson knew he needed 20 points going into the game at Killingly Saturday to become one of the few who have played at the school to score 1,000 points in his career.
“When the first buzzer sounded, I was thinking, ‘Hey, it’s just 20, not much.’ But when I got into the game, it was, emotionally, on my shoulders,” Anderson said.
That monkey on his back would not be shed until the third quarter but Anderson did accomplish his goal. He scored 31 points and not only reached his personal milestone, but led the Centaurs to a 67-50 win over the Redmen.
Anderson was well on his way to 1,000 in the first half.
He scored 12 points but the Centaurs failed to pull away, leading Killingly only 28-26.
The Centaurs (7-7, 4-2 Eastern Connecticut Conference Division II) were playing a bit into the Redmen’s hands.
Killingly wanted to keep the pace of the game slower.
“I was concerned, but when we sped it up, they got really aggressive. I decided to back off a little and let them slow it down and see what happens. Fortunately, we were able to close out on some long rebounds and put together a little run,” said Woodstock Academy coach Marty Hart.
The Centaurs went on an 11-6 run to start the third quarter and take a seven-point lead.
The last basket in that run was also the biggest for Anderson on the day.
Anderson put one down just 18 seconds into the second half, added a pair of free throws at the 6:15 mark of the third and two more at 4:07.
His 1,000th career point came with 3:39 left in the third in the easiest of fashion- a nice little layup that was not challenged.
“It was an easy shot,” Anderson said. “Just another play in my book, I don’t really keep track. It was a 1,000, not that many people do it. It’s nice to get into four figures and be on the list.”
That list is a pretty short one at Woodstock Academy.
Anderson is believed to be the fifth player to reach the milestone in school history.
The senior didn’t reach the mark in traditional fashion.
Most high school players who reach 1,000 in their career have a strong freshman year.
Anderson had just six points.
“I picked up the slack in my sophomore year and there were no seniors last year so I got to shine and this year has been going great.
Anderson finished with 326 points and a 14.8 point per game scoring average as a sophomore. He followed that up by averaging 16.4 points per game last season and scoring 393 points. He has 286 points in his first 14 games this season for a 20.4 per game average.
“I was relieved when it happened. It meant we could go back to playing basketball; we went on a nice run and won the game. That’s all that matters,” Anderson said.
Hart presented Anderson with a commemorative ball and a medallion when the game was paused briefly to announce Anderson’s accomplishment.
“I’m thrilled for Chase and our team,” Hart said. “He works hard. He’s a great leader, does a lot of great things for us. He’s a great facilitator, passer, strong rebounder and defender. We’re glad when the ball finds its way to his hands because he puts it in the hole. He sees another guy open; he gets them the ball and helps us score.”
The Centaurs did a good job of getting each other the ball in the second half against Killingly.
The seven-point advantage held through the third quarter.
The Centaurs extended it into double digits midway through the fourth.
Anderson hit a basket to make it 52-41, but a Shayne Bigelow (11 points) 3-pointer for Killingly (5-10, 1-5) cut the deficit to eight.
Woodstock Academy then added another highlight to its day.
Cole Hackett (eight points) went into the lane, but couldn’t get a shot off. Making like a football center, he snapped the ball through his legs to Luke Mathewson who converted the bucket.
“We’ve really upped our ball handling and passing conditioning. We’re doing zig-zag passing, three-man weave, a lot of continuous motion stuff where you have to be in the right spot for the pass or you won’t be able to keep up with the process,” Hart said.
But the Hackett pass even caught the coach off guard.
“I think he may have a future as a long snapper,” Hart laughed. “I was blocked. I didn’t see it come out, but I knew the only place it could have come out was between his legs.”
Ethan Adams was the only other player in double figures for the Centaurs with 10.
Luke Desaulnier led Killingly with 13.
The win couldn’t have come at a better time for the Centaurs.
Feb. 1 they traveled to Mansfield and suffered a heart-breaking 81-77 double overtime loss to the E.O. Smith Panthers.
“It was a very tough loss. We could have closed it out but things didn’t go our way,” Anderson said.
The Centaurs trailed by three in a high-scoring first quarter, 25-22, but took the lead when they held their hosts to just eight second quarter points.
It was a 51-44 Woodstock Academy lead going into the fourth, but E.O. Smith rallied to tie the game.
“We had a little cushion at the end, but they got hot, made some good plays. We had chances, they had chances and we had to go to overtime twice to figure it out,” Hart said.
The two teams each scored six points in the first overtime period, but the Panthers doubled up on the Centaurs in the second, 12-6.
Aaron Johnson paced the Centaurs with 28 points including five 3-pointers.
“He’s a sparkplug,” Hart said. “I keep saying that because he gets us going. Early in the game, they zoned us and the ball found his hands and it found the hoop really nicely,” Hart said.
Johnson had 14 of his points, including four of his 3-pointers, in the first half.
Anderson added 13 of his 23 points in the second half and Hackett tossed in 18 in the loss.
Hart was just happy the team didn’t have long to think about the loss.
“If we didn’t win (Saturday’s) game, they start to stack up, but we played the right way and came away with the ‘W’ (against Killingly). It was good to put E.O. Smith behind us. After a double overtime loss, the best thing you can do is play right away. I didn’t want to be on a bus again (at 9:30 a.m. Saturday), but we were,” Hart said.
Jan. 29 the Centaurs made 15-of-27 shots in the first half to bolt out to a 20-point lead at the break and cruised to an 83-52 win over the Bacon Academy Bobcats at the Alumni Fieldhouse.
Anderson led the Centaurs with 24 points while Johnson and Mathewson had 12 each.
Marc Allard
Sports Information Director
WoodstockAcademy
..