A pair of Pennsylvania high school basketball players both reached 1,000 career points within seconds of one another last week. The Feb. 9 game between West Allegheny and South Fayette ended with Brandon Bell and Mike Plasko celebrating career milestones, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
South Fayette's Plasko entered the game needing 24 points to reach 1,000, and he reached that number thanks to a three-pointer with just 8.2 seconds remaining. Plasko had another regular season game left, but he wanted to get there in his home finale. Once he did, his South Fayette teammates and students rushed the court.
During a lengthy break in the action, West Allegheny coach Ben O'Connor approached South Fayette coach Dave Mislan and told him Bell was stuck on 998 points in the last game of his career. With the game already in hand, Mislan agreed to let Bell get a bucket on the final possession of the game.
Roughly seven seconds after Plasko hit 1,000 points, Bell drove to the basket for a layup while South Fayette's players backed off. West Allegheny players, cheerleaders, and some fans then came onto the court to congratulate Bell.
"It was one of the coolest things I've ever been involved in with sports," O'Connor told the Post-Gazette. "I can't even imagine what it would be like to finish your career with 998 points. If Brandon scored 1,000 in a normal way, he would obviously remember it. But to get 1,000 in the way it happened makes it a lot more memorable."
Mislan explained he didn't mind telling his team to let up in the closing seconds so that Bell could reach a historic milestone.
"Maybe I'm just getting older or maybe I'm just a little less competitive, but how could you not let that kid get [1,000]? I really like that kid," Mislan said. "Think about how it made that kid feel good. It would've been way crazier to not let him get it."
