By PAUL GOTHAM
An upset stomach at halftime didn’t stop Jason Gibbs on Thursday night.
A week’s worth of anticipation extended 16 more minutes of game time. Once he returned to the court, the Churchville-Chili senior took care of the matter at hand.
The 5-foot-10 guard found himself with the ball in his possession on the open floor as he has so many times during his high school career. And like he has in the past, Gibbs finished the layup. This time, though, the basket marked a career milestone.
“It was the nerves,” Gibbs said of his halftime bout. “I was just anxious to play that game. I had it on my mind all week coming in. It was a long week. It was tough, but I was able to get my composure due to my teammates and coaches in the locker room and was able to finish out the second half strong.”
VIEW MORE PHOTOS FROM RON ANDREWS HERE.
With the basket, Gibbs became the third member of the Churchville-Chili boys’ basketball program to reach the career 1,000-point mark.
“It’s truly a blessing,” he said of the accomplishment. “I worked really hard coming in to this year. My teammates help me every day in practice to keep my mind not too high or too low.”
Gibbs joined former Saints Elijah Reid (1,138 career points) and Anthony Lewis (1,059 points) with his milestone.
“His best basketball is when he gets out on the break and he’s in the open floor,” Churchville-Chili head Tim Miller said of the basket. “It was pretty fun to watch. I’m just proud of him.
“The countless hours he’s put in during the off-season to get himself in this situation. He sets himself apart by what he does in the offseason.”
As a freshman, Gibbs played behind the likes of Kamerin Poromon and Griffin Stella. Once he earned his playing time, he quickly proved himself.
Last season, Gibbs set the program’s single-season scoring mark.
“This is a team because of Jason, each night, that opponents have to be worried about facing us because of the impact he can have on a game offensively and defensively,” Miller stated. “I’ve been lucky to have him as a part of the program.”
Gibbs didn’t so much as reach the 1,000-point plateau as he blew right past it. Needing 19 points going into the game, he finished with a season-high 35 in a 76-71 victory over Gates Chili.
“Anthony DiCesare is a tremendous player,” Gibbs said referring to Gates Chili’s senior guard. “He single-handedly got them back in the game. I was just doing everything at that point just to keep my team in the game and put us in the best situation to win.”
Gibbs averaged 23.1 points on 43-percent shooting a season ago when he earned 2021-22 Monroe County Division II Co-Player of the Year. Thursday’s output was his seventh of 20 or more points and second of 30 or more this year as he is averaging 22.8 points per game.
“The things we learn from sports, the hard work, carries over into adult lives,” Miller said echoing the comments he made to his team after Thursday’s contest. “Not all of us are going to be professional basketball players, but we’re going to be professionals in other fields. Jason is one of those kids that no matter what he does as an adult, I see him being successful because he knows how much he has to put into something to be good at something or to be great at it. And he always wants to be great.”
Churchville-Chili (7-5) travels to play at HF-L next Monday.
Leave a Reply