With 4:10 left to play in regulation, Columbus North junior Blake Barker connected on a dunk that followed with cheers from his hometown fans.
That dunk helped Barker surpass 1,000 career points for his Bull Dog career. He finished with a game-high 22 points in a 77-54 boys basketball victory over East Central on Saturday afternoon.
“The moment was pretty cool. I got to see all of my friends, family and everybody that have been supporting me throughout all this,” Barker said. “I loved seeing my coaches’ excitement and seeing my teammates excited. They were the ones that helped me get there, and also working hard every single day and being able to accomplish something that not everybody accomplishes. It was fun, but it’s not going to stop me from keeping going.”
Barker now sits at 1,001 career points and currently is seventh on the Bull Dogs’ all-time scoring list. Bobby Hayes is sixth at 1,005 points. Josh Speidel is the record holder with 1,512.
“We’re all excited for Blake. He’s a high-character young man. I’m grateful for the chance to coach him,” North coach Paul Ferguson said. “Anytime someone who puts the amount of effort and daily grind into this game that Blake does and achieves this type of milestone, you’re just excited for him.”
Nick Schiavello scored the opening six points for North (15-3) to put it ahead 6-0. The rest of the Bull Dogs got involved and helped extend the lead out to double digits following a 3-pointer from Barker to make it 16-6. They led 21-13 after the first quarter.
Logan Rohrbacher hit a 3-pointer, and then made three free throws during a 6-2 run to cut the deficit to 23-19 with about 4 1/2 minutes left in the first half for the Trojans (12-6). North then built its lead back up to double digits with a 13-6 run to lead 36-25 with 1:30 to play in the half, but then a Rohrbacher bucket made it 36-27 at halftime.
The Bull Dogs put the game out of reach, jumping out to a 16-6 run to start the third quarter to lead 52-33, and East Central posed no threat of a comeback the rest of the game.
Schiavello poured in 16 points, and Casper Clark added eight for North.
“Our defense was really strong. We had a couple communication errors, but we were able to get over that,” Barker said. “Our offense was team-ball. We moved the ball well, and we got guys in the right spot. We fed people at the right time, and we hit shots when we needed to hit shots.”
