Special night: Grooms scores 1,000th point as Uniontown remains unbeaten with 91-61 win over Belle Vernon
There was a boisterous sellout crowd on hand at Uniontown鈥檚 A.J. Everhart Memorial Gymnasium on Friday night.
While the fans were looking forward to a key Section 3-AAAA boys basketball clash between the Red Raiders and Belle Vernon, there was also an intriguing subplot to the game.
Uniontown junior Notorious Grooms stood 28 points shy of 1,000 for his career.
First things first, though.
鈥淭his was an important game,鈥� Red Raiders coach Rob Kezmarsky stressed.
Uniontown made sure in the first half the main goal and Grooms鈥� milestone would both be very likely to occur.
The Red Raiders turned a 20-16 lead into a commanding 51-27 halftime advantage by outscoring the Leopards 31-11 in the second quarter and cruised to a 91-61 victory to stay unbeaten at 11-0 overall and 2-0 in the section.
It was Grooms who spearheaded the explosion with 17 points in the second quarter to give him 20 at intermission.
At that point it was only a matter of time.
Grooms scored seven points in the third quarter, which ended with Uniontown ahead 71-48, then with 3:48 remaining in the game he took a long, perfectly thrown pass by K鈥橝drian McLee and hit a layup for points No. 1,000 and 1,001 of his career as the Red Raiders fans erupted.
The game was stopped to note the accomplishment. Soon after, Kezmarsky removed his star junior who finished with a game-high 29 points, including three 3-pointers.
鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 really worried about getting my 1,000th point tonight,鈥� Grooms said. 鈥淚 just wanted to win. I went with the flow. Then I just found my shot and started getting to the rack and the game opened up a lot for me.鈥�
Grooms was one of five Red Raiders to hit double digits in scoring. Kelan Milsom tallied 16 points and was followed by Isaac Ellsworth with 13, including three 3-pointers, and Jamire Braxton and Jeremiah Hager with 11 apiece. McLee chipped in with nine points.
Zion Moored scored 21 points to lead the Leopards (1-1, 6-3) who also got 11 points from Alonzo Wade and 10 from Curtis Wade. Jude Minnitti added nine points.
鈥淭o get his 1,000th point as a junior is a great accomplishment,鈥� Kezmarsky said of Grooms. 鈥淚 told Tori it was going to happen sooner or later. Belle Vernon is a scary team. Zion is capable of scoring a lot of points. We had a great game plan and the kids were so intense, ready to go.鈥�
Belle Vernon held early leads of 8-2 and 10-5 before Grooms ignited an 18-6 run with a 3-pointer to put Uniontown ahead to stay. Still, the Leopards were only down four before their second-quarter implosion.
鈥淲e stopped playing defense and rebounding,鈥� Belle Vernon coach Joe Salvino said. 鈥淭hey must鈥檝e had 24 offensive rebounds. You can鈥檛 let a team like that have that many chances at the bucket. The only person that rebounded for us was Alonzo Wade, I think he had nine.鈥�
Wade impressed Kezmarsky.
鈥淭he one who played really well, I thought, was Alonzo Wade,鈥� Kezmarsky said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 an excellent player. He鈥檚 a strong kid and did a good job.鈥�
Salvino was hopeful heading into the second quarter.
鈥淲e played defense I thought fairly well in the first quarter,鈥� Salvino said, 鈥渂ut then after that we stopped and consequently you saw what happened.鈥�
Uniontown opened the second with a 20-1 run to go up 40-17.
鈥淭hey have that type of team,鈥� Salvino said of how quickly the tide turned. 鈥淲hen you have kids that can shoot the way they can and quick kids that take the ball to the hole, it didn鈥檛 surprise me how fast everything turned around when we stopped rebounding and playing defense.
鈥淚t just snowballed.鈥�
Kezmarsky, whose team was playing without injured starting guard Calvin Winfrey III, advised his squad to just stay the course in between the first and second quarters.
鈥淚 told them to keep playing, keep shooting the ball but turn our intensity up a little bit,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 thought Kelan Milsom, who stepped in and started, couldn鈥檛 have played better. Isaac Ellsworth, our seventh man, had a great game, too. They both got more opportunity to play and they both produced. Eric Townsend came in and gave us some good minutes when we rested K鈥橝drian.鈥�
Winfrey, who suffered a sprained ankle during a recent practice, is only expected to miss one more game, if that.
鈥淐alvin scores 15 points a game but he鈥檚 so important way beyond that for us,鈥� Kezmarsky pointed out. 鈥淗e sets the pace, plays great defense, handles the ball.鈥�
Grooms picked up the slack with his friend relegated to the bench.
Kezmarsky lauded Grooms following the game.
鈥淭ori scored more points as a freshman than he did as a sophomore because he contributed in more different ways last year,鈥� Kezmarsky said. 鈥淭hat just shows he puts the team first. I mean he鈥檚 a great passer, great defender. His overall game is continuing to develop. He鈥檚 never satisfied.鈥�
Salvino tipped his cap to Grooms.
鈥淕ood ball player and has always been a good ball player,鈥� said Salvino, who has seen plenty of his own players reach the 1,000 milestone over the years. 鈥淚鈥檓 happy for him and I congratulate him because 1,000 points in a high school career is something special.鈥�
Grooms had that accomplishment in the back of his mind for some time.
鈥淚 kind of thought about it when I was watching the Raiders when I was a young ball boy,鈥� Grooms said. 鈥淚t was always a dream for me. I was looking at the list (of Uniontown鈥檚 1,000-point scorers) since I was a kid. When I was an eighth grader I played freshman basketball and every day before practice I would look at that 1,000-point club.
鈥淣ow it鈥檚 happened and it鈥檚 just a dream come true.鈥�
Kezmarsky, who was a 1,000-point scorer at Laurel Highlands on his way to being the program鈥檚 all-time leading scorer at the time, pointed out the differences between now and then.
鈥淚n 1990 it was easier because I didn鈥檛 even know,鈥� Kezmarsky said with a laugh. 鈥淚 scored my 1,000th point against Punxsutawney, they stopped the game and I was surprised.
鈥淭oday with social media everything is different. Everybody in the gym knew.鈥�
Uniontown has two more players who will likely also reach the 1,000-point mark.
鈥淛amire is going to get his this year, too, and Calvin is going to get his at some point, maybe the end of this year or next season,鈥� Kezmarsky said. 鈥淎ll three of their names will be on that board.
鈥淭hose three aren鈥檛 worried about that, though. They鈥檙e good kids and they all know it鈥檒l come and that team goals come first.鈥�
Grooms, who patiently stood to pose for photos and sign autographs as a throng of Red Raider fans lined up on the court after the game, emphasized Kezmarsky鈥檚 point.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot we want to accomplish,鈥� Grooms said.
鈥淥ur team can do anything.鈥�