South Royalton
South Royalton senior Nicholas Howe entered the Royals’ elite 1,000-point club in Friday’s 48-37 home win over Sharon Academy.
Howe entered the Vermont Division IV matchup with 998 career points. His big bucket came on a left-side baseline drive with 1:55 remaining in the first quarter. It was the sixth offensive possession of the night for South Royalton, which improved to 7-2.
The Royals’ scoring machine, who finished with 23 points, entered Friday’s contest averaging 29 points per game. He was held to just eight points, however, when the two teams met last Saturday in Sharon as the Phoenix’s defensive masterpiece yielded a 33-23 win for the home team.
“Last Saturday, we went into Sharon and kind of fell apart,” Howe said. “Tonight, I was more focused on getting the win and trying not to think about the points. … 2-for-2: we won the game and I got my 1,000 points.”
Howe is the ninth player in South Royalton history to score 1,000 or more points. The last person to do it before Friday was David Manning (1,112), a member of the class of 2006. The first SoRo player to ever accomplish the feat was Pete Howe (class of ‘81), who scored 1,219 career points.
The elder Howe happens to be both the Royals’ coach as well as Nicholas’ father.
“It’s pretty special,” said Pete Howe of his son’s accomplishment. “It’s been his goal for a very long time. … I think it’s pretty cool to have a father-son (duo) up there.”
The younger Howe was congratulated by droves of supporters and fans following Friday’s game.
“Being up there with my dad, it’s a dream come true,” he said. “Freshman year, I only scored 100 points. Sophomore year, I think it was around 300. Pretty much around last year, I knew I could do it if I put my mind to it. I’ve been working hard.”
Both offenses got off to a slow start on Friday, with the guests clinging to an 8-6 lead after the first quarter.
South Royalton, which got eight points from Jacob Hewitt, gained an 18-15 lead by halftime.
The Royals’ lead was just five points with 5:30 remaining in the third quarter (22-17) before they went on a 12-0 run, which lasted until Sharon’s Cordell Benjamin sank a free throw with about 20 seconds remaining in the quarter.
“That third quarter killed us,” Sharon coach Blake Fabrikant said. “Once you go stagnant on offense, it tends to carry over to the defensive end. We were kind of able to climb back out of a hole, but we gave ourselves too big of a deficit to get over.”
Sharon got SoRo’s lead down to eight points with about 2:00 remaining in the game when Harvey Kelley stole a Royals’ pass on the perimeter and was fouled on the ensuing layup attempt. Kelley sank both free throws to cut the hosts’ lead to 40-32, but Hewitt countered with two free throws.
South Royalton was 10-for-14 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter.
Fabrikant acknowledged the difficulty of anticipating Howe’s milestone.
“It’s always tough, especially when it’s somebody’s night,” Fabrikant said. “It is a big distraction. … But it’s a huge accomplishment, so kudos to (Howe).”
Sharon, which was led by Kelley (15 points) and Sam Knoerlin (nine points), fell to 4-2.
South Royalton hosts Mid Vermont Christian today at 12:30; Sharon’s next game is Tuesday at home against undefeated Williamstown, the top seed in Division III.
“(Williamstown) is always rolling, but it looks like they’re even sharper than they normally are,” Fabrikant said.
“I think our team has a high ceiling, so we’re just going try to slow the game down. We’re not going to play to their pace. If we can take some time off our offensive possessions, we’ll feel a little more comfortable.”