Teammates gather to congratulate Leavitt senior guard Wyatt Hathaway after he became the school’s all-time leading scorer on Friday night. Tony Blasi/Sun Journal Buy this Photo
TURNER — Leavitt senior guard Wyatt Hathaway knew all along that his next two points would place him in the record books as the school’s all-time leading scorer.
Leavitt senior guard Wyatt Hathaway drives to the basket to score two points and become the school’s new all-time leading scorer. Tony Blasi/Sun Journal Buy this Photo
Hathaway entered Friday’s boys basketball game four points shy of surpassing the record of 1,317 points set by Stan Maxwell in 1960. He made history in the first five minutes of the game with a three-point play and a drive to the basket, and then helped the Hornets stave off tenacious Oxford Hills, 55-44.
“It felt good when I let (the shot) go,” Hathaway said. “Got a win and glad I set the record. Hopefully, it will be there for a while.”
But setting the record was the least of Hathaway’s concerns.
“I just want to win. I don’t really care about the record,” he said. “It is cool to have my name in the books for a while, but I just care about winning, and I’m glad we won.”
The night before Friday’s game, Mike Hathaway, Wyatt’s father and Leavitt’s coach, told his son that he was five points away from breaking the record.
“We felt he needed to know,” Mike Hathaway said. “He said he was going to try to get it in the first two possessions. That doesn’t surprise me, knowing him.
Leavitt senior guard Wyatt Hathaway gets a hug from his dad and coach Mike Hathaway after becoming the school’s all-time leading scorer in Turner on Friday night. Tony Blasi/Sun Journal Buy this Photo
“We are awfully proud of him. He has worked really, really hard. It really pays off.”
Wyatt Hathaway finished the game with 15 points.
Mike Hathaway was beaming with pride over his son’s achievement and was pleased with his Hornets’ victory.
After the teams took a break to acknowledge Wyatt’s success, the senior pointed out that the Hornets still had to deal with the Vikings.
The Hornets (4-2) kept their distance in the first half, conjuring up a 29-19 lead by halftime. But near the end of the third quarter, Leavitt’s shooting went stale, allowing the Vikings to close in.
Oxford Hills continued to gnaw away at Leavitt’s lead and made it 43-36 with 3:35 left in the game.
“I trust my guys,” Wyatt Hathaway said. “Every basketball team gets a cold streak. I am just glad we started hitting our shots and we pulled it out.”
Wyatt gets buckets! Leavitt senior Wyatt Hathaway broke the school's scoring record during a win over Oxford Hills Friday night.??https://t.co/61dI3diS72
— CBS 13 News (@WGME) February 27, 2021
Mike Hathaway attributes Oxford Hills’ persistence for slowing down the Hornets.
“Part of that is them. They are just so tough defensively and just a physical team,” Mike Hathaway said. “They came out and got after it. We did a good job with keeping our composure and coming back and finishing it off.”
Over the final three minutes of the game, the Hornets opened up on the Vikings. Senior guard Joziah Learned (who scored a game-high 19 points) drove to the basket for two points, Hathaway dropped in a 3-pointer and Ian Redstone (10 points) followed with another 3 to give the Hornets a cushion.
Hayden Paine scored a team-high 14 points for Oxford Hills, while Teigan Pelletier dropped in 11 and Elias Soehren added 10.
“We played OK,” Oxford Hills coach Scott Graffam said. “We didn’t defend very well. But the biggest problem was offensively. If our scorers don’t don’t score, we can’t beat (anybody).
“That’s a quality team. They deserve to win that. They played better than we did.”
Send questions/comments to the editors.
