COUDERSPORT, Pa. – Needing 26 points going into the night to reach 1,000 career points, Coudersport’s Hayden Keck had a third-quarter to remember netting 19 of his game-high 28 points in the quarter including the milestone shot, in the Falcons 70-45 win over visiting Otto-Eldred Tuesday, Jan. 12.
Hayden Keck center with mom, Sheela, and dad, Walt. Photo by Paul Burdick. Check out more of Burdick’s work here
Sitting three points shy of the mark late in the third quarter, Keck brought the ball up the left side, stopped, and hit a 3-pointer, one of three he made on the night, to reach 1,000 career points.
Watch the shot via Coudersport’s YouTube channel.
“I wanted to hit as soon possible,” Keck, who was playing in his and his team’s first game of the year, said. “Games have been getting canceled the day they have been scheduled. So, you don’t know what is going to happen. I just wanted to get it over with.”
After a first half that saw Keck score just seven points, including only two in the second quarter, the milestone wasn’t really on his mind entering the second half.
“I didn’t think I had played the best in the first half and wanted to go out a little more,” Keck said. “I didn’t even know exactly how close I was. I was just shooting it. It just happened to get me over 1,000.”
Keck was so obvious to the fact that he had reached 1,000 points that he said he didn’t even know about it until the game was stopped to congratulate him.
“I shot it, it went in, and we were backpedaling down the court,” Keck said. “After a couple of seconds, the game stopped. Then I knew.”
Watch Keck’s full interview
Keck joined his older sister, Haley (1,493) as a 1,000-point scorer at Coudersport.
In addition to Keck, Dalton Keglovits added 13 points for Coudersport, while Christian Furman and Brandt Kighlinger each scored eight.
Jake Merry, who hit three 3-pointers and went 7-for-7 from the free-throw line, paced Otto-Eldred with 20 points.
Also see District 9 recaps from Jan. 12
Also see District 10 recaps from Jan. 12
