Christmas comes early: Red Raiders鈥� Winfrey scores 1,000th-career point in victory over Latrobe
LATROBE 鈥� Calvin Winfrey III was hoping to score his 1,000th-career point on a dunk, but he鈥檒l settle for a layup.
The Uniontown senior came into Tuesday鈥檚 Class 5A Section 1 game at Latrobe needing 13 points to become the 20th boy in program history to reach the mark.
Winfrey did that and more in scoring a game-high 26 points in the Red Raiders鈥� 81-53 victory.
Winfrey drove and scored with 4:13 left in the third quarter for 1,001 points. He had the chance for 1,000 at the foul line earlier in the period, but made 1 of 2 for 999.
Winfrey鈥檚 career total stands at 1,013, as Uniontown will be heading to Orlando, Fla., to play in the KSA Tournament.
鈥淚t is a big accomplishment to score 1,000 points, and no Winfrey has ever done it, so I鈥檓 happy I got it,鈥� said Winfrey on reaching 1,000-career points. 鈥淚 would rather get it on a bucket than a free throw. This was a big win to come to their court and beat them.
鈥淚t was great to score my 1,000th-career point, but it wouldn鈥檛 have mattered if we didn鈥檛 win the game. I will remember this day the rest of my life, so if we would have lost, it would have been bad.鈥�
Winfrey joins teammate and cousin Notorious Grooms on the 1,000-point list. Grooms, who hit the mark last season, scored 25 points.
鈥淗e is like my actual blood brother, and I love him,鈥� Grooms said. 鈥淲e grew up together playing since we were five, and that鈥檚 how we bond.鈥�
The Red Raiders (3-0, 5-1) had more reason to celebrate in defeating the previously unbeaten Wildcats (1-1, 5-1).
鈥淟atrobe is a very good basketball team and I鈥檝e known (Latrobe head coach) Brad (Wetzel) for years,鈥� Uniontown coach Rob Kezmarsky said. 鈥淭heir kids play so hard and they push that ball. They have a style of play, and it鈥檚 really good.
鈥淏efore the season started, I thought we had two tough games early in Penn-Trafford and Latrobe. We beat Penn-Trafford, who is well coached and good, and right now we beat Latrobe, so right now we are 3-0 in the section and getting ready to go to Florida at 2 a.m. 鈥淭hese are two quality wins on the court. I think whoever wins this season is going to 12-2 or 11-3. There is a lot of parity, but the way we ran our offense tonight, and played, was really good.鈥�
Latrobe had a strong start and led 14-8 before Kelan Milsom made 1 of 2 at the foul line and Cam Dugan hit a three-pointer after Grooms pulled down an offensive rebound to cut the deficit to 14-12.
The Wildcats鈥� John Wetzel scored two of his team-high 21 points before the Red Raiders went on a 7-0 run that was capped by Isaac Ellsworth鈥檚 deep 3-pointer as time expired for a 19-16 lead after the first quarter. Ellsworth scored 13 points and Milsom added 12.
Grooms鈥� offensive rebound demonstrated his desire to do more than just score.
鈥淭ori (Grooms) knows we need rebounding, defense and steals, and it鈥檚 been amazing,鈥� Kezmarsky said. 鈥淭ori is an all-around basketball player, and he does what the team needs.鈥�
Latrobe cut the Uniontown lead to 25-24 in the second quarter, but never regained the advantage once it fell behind.
The Red Raiders had a 34-30 lead at halftime, but took control in the third quarter after outscoring the Wildcats, 29-14.
Uniontown had an 18-9 edge in the final frame.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 turn the ball over that much against a team that good,鈥� Brad Wetzel said. 鈥淥nce they got the momentum, we couldn鈥檛 get it back. I thought we did a pretty decent job of denying them that momentum, but once they got it, I don鈥檛 think we fought as hard as we needed to get back in the game.鈥�