1,000 celebration: Winfrey honored before Red Raiders鈥� rout of McKeesport
Festivities abounded before Uniontown鈥檚 boys basketball game against McKeesport on Friday night.
The Red Raiders鈥� Calvin Winfrey III was honored in a pregame ceremony for scoring his 1,000th career point at Latrobe during a Dec. 17 victory.
Also an updated list of the school鈥檚 1,000-point scorers was unveiled, revealing the names of 2024 graduate Jamire Braxton and current seniors Notorious Grooms and Winfrey. Braxton and Grooms hit the milestone last season.
鈥淏efore the game we honored Calvin and his family, then (athletic director) Harry (Kaufman) took him over with Jamire and Tori and we uncovered our 1,000-point banner with their names on there,鈥� Uniontown coach Rob Kezmarsky said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not often you have three 1,000-point scorers on one team within one year like that.鈥�
There was still a game to be played and Kezmarsky made sure his players, despite all the pregame hoopla, were prepared to take care of the business at hand.
The Red Raiders exploded to a 24-3 lead in the first quarter on their way to a 75-36 win over the Tigers in their Section 1-AAAAA matchup. Winfrey and Grooms poured in 23 points apiece and Kelan Milsom and Isaac Ellsworth each added 12 points for first-place Uniontown (4-0, 9-3).
Kezmarsky pointed out Uniontown didn鈥檛 have school on Friday so he arrived at the gym early.
鈥淭ori and Calvin came walking in at 3:15,鈥� Kezmarsky said. 鈥淚t was like a playoff atmosphere with everything going on but they were ready to play.鈥�
The Red Raiders didn鈥檛 take their foot off the gas, rolling to a 41-14 halftime lead and a 63-24 advantage after three quarters.
鈥淚t was a section game and McKeesport is a scary team,鈥� Kezmarsky said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e coach is doing a really good job with them and they鈥檙e getting a little more organized and they鈥檙e very athletic. But our kids were focused. That puts us at 4-0 in the section so that鈥檚 very important.鈥�
Lamont Perkins led McKeesport (2-2, 4-7) with 13 points.
鈥淲e moved the ball so well tonight,鈥� Kezmarsky said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 probably the best we鈥檝e passed the ball since I鈥檝e been coaching. They were making the extra pass, being disciplined. Our kids followed our defensive plan well, too. It was a really good game for us.
鈥淲e have four kids averaging double figures but I also thought Ayden Kiefer had one of his better games inside for us, too, and sophomore Cam Dugan seems to be all over the floor. He plays hard.鈥�
Uniontown was coming off a whirlwind of tournament games before taking on McKeesport. The Red Raiders played three games at the KSA Pre-Holiday Tournament in Kissimmee, Florida, on Dec. 19-21 then played two games in the Central Valley Roundball Classic at Geneva College on Dec. 27-28, going 3-2 in that span.
鈥淲e played five games over Christmas,鈥� Kezmarsky said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e getting a little bit back to normal now with four practices this week. That鈥檚 the first time we practiced since the Latrobe game. The way we prepare for section games and exhibition games is different. We scout and watch every game the other teams in our section play.鈥�
The Red Raiders have nothing but section games remaining on their regular season schedule now.
鈥淲e didn鈥檛 want to have any exhibition games after Christmas and Mr. Kaufman did a good job in putting together our schedule of making that happen,鈥� Kezmarsky said. 鈥淚f you look at our resume we lost to some really good teams and we beat some really good teams in those other games. Now we need to focus on the section. Tuesday we鈥檙e at Gateway (3-1, 5-5) and that鈥檚 a big game for us. They鈥檙e just one game behind us.鈥�
Kezmarsky took a minute to reflect on having a trio of players reach the 1,000-point mark in such a short span.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a special thing and those guys have helped lead us to a lot of success,鈥� Kezmarsky said. 鈥淲e were 23-5 last year. Right now this group is 55-14 in the last three years, so they鈥檙e doing something right.鈥�