KNOX, Pa. – Caden Rainey became the 12th player in Union boys’ basketball history to record 1,000 career points in the Golden Knights 59-56 loss at Keystone Thursday night.
Needing 13 points to get 1,000, Rainey entered the fourth quarter still in need of five but quickly did so scoring six points in the first 1:11 of the quarter.
The milestone came on a driving layup that gave Union a 50-46 lead.
“It’s every kids’ dream to hit that,” Rainey said. “But more importantly, I wanted to win the game, and we didn’t come out with that.”
The game was stopped, and Rainey’s brother, Cole Morris, Union’s third all-time leading scorer with 1,326 career points came out of the stands to present his brother with the game ball.
Morris’ appearance was a shock to Rainey, who thought his brother was still in Florida, where he lives. But Morris hopped on a plane at 2:15 p.m. landing in Pittsburgh around 4:45 p.m. before making the nearly two-hour drive to Keystone High School to see his brother reach the milestone.
“I did not (know he was flying up),” Rainey said. “That was really cool. He wrote me a note. I thought that was all I got, but he was present, too.”
Watch Rainey’s full interview
Rainey finished the game with 14 points giving him 1,001 in his career. He is just the third Golden Knight to reach 1,000 career points in the last decade joining Morris, who graduated in 2016, Lucas Bowser (2018, 1,421 points), and Brody Pollock (2012, 1,263 points) in the exclusive club.
“He means a lot to this team,” Union head coach Eric Mortimer, who has been Rainey’s head coach for his freshman, junior, and senior seasons, said. “He has all that experience and everything. He’s a good leader. He can do anything. He plays well with everybody.”
Keystone head coach Greg Heath had nothing but praise for Rainey.
“I can’t say enough about Caden Rainey,” Heath said. “I was telling our guys, I love that kid. I always have. I love the way he plays. He’s a great competitor. He’s a great leader. He knows how to draw fouls. He draws charges. He’s just a really, really heady player.”
Photo by Chris Rossetti
