MADISON TOWNSHIP -- Shelby junior Alex Bruskotter never imagined scoring 1,000 points on the high school basketball court. Even as a youngster, his dream was a team goal.
"I'd always went to the state tournament when I was young with my dad and friends, so I kind of just wanted to go to state, to be honest. That was my only goal," the 6-foot-7 All-Ohioan said. "1,000 points really wasn't my goal going into high school, but it's pretty cool to have."
The fact Bruskotter reached the milestone while helping his team advance a step closer to that aforementioned state tournament made it even better.
Photos from Shelby's 70-48 win over Ontario in a Division II sectional title basketball game at Madison Middle School on Friday evening.
Bruskotter scored 24 points and pulled down eight rebounds Friday night to lead his Whippets past Ontario, 70-48, in a Division II sectional title game at Madison Middle School.
The win moved the No. 2-seeded Whippets (20-3) into a district semifinal game on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. against No.3-seeded Lexington (19-4) at Ashland High School.
The Minutemen, who defeated Shelby, 66-59, on Feb. 14, advanced in the second game on Friday night at Madison, defeating Willard, 58-56.
"Alex has had a great year and to (reach 1,000 points) as a junior ... it's just crazy how much he has progressed from his sophomore year to his junior year," Shelby coach Greg Gallaway said.
Shelby led just 52-41 going into the fourth quarter after the Warriors trimmed the lead late in the third quarter.
But Bruskotter scored 10 of his points in the fourth period as Shelby outscored Ontario (13-11), 18-7, to pull away for the 22-point win.
The lanky point guard is just the sixth 1,000-point scorer in Shelby boys' basketball history. He joins five-time NBA champ Larry Siegfried (1955-57) Josh Ingle (2008-11), Garrett Arnold (2009-12), Davey Hipp (2013-17) and T.J. Pugh, whose career with the Whippets ended in 2020.
"He has matured ... handling the ball for us this year. He gets the other four guys on the court dialed in. Alex finished the game for us tonight. That's what he has done all year, so we're going to need him down the stretch," Gallaway said.
"With all the work he puts in, he is 100-percent deserving. He has earned everything that he has gotten. So I am really proud of him," the coach said.
Shelby ended the regular season last week with a 74-43 win at Ontario. But the Warriors didn't make it easy in the sectional final, despite not have two of their three seniors, Gage Weaver and Braxton Hall, available.
"I thought we played harder (tonight)," Ontario coach Tim Mergel said. "The first quarter (when Shelby built a 16-6 lead) kind of put us behind the 8-ball.
"We had wide-open looks. We were missing at the rim, missing wide open threes and we kind of dug ourselves a hole. But going into a game like this, I think if you keep it to around 10 going into the fourth quarter, you got a shot. We were able to do that. I thought we just ran out of gas.
"We just looked very, very tired at the end. I don't know what more I could have done ... what more these kids could have done. So I thought they played pretty damn good," Mergel said.
It was the tournament opener for Shelby, which had a bye in the first round. Gallaway said he was glad to have it behind them.
"Some teams always talk about not taking the bye so they can play a game. That's what's always nervous. You go a whole week of practice and (Ontario) just played two days ago. It's nice to just get settled in and hopefully we can build off tonight," he said.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING: Junior Casey Lantz (13 points, six rebounds) and senior Max Hess (10 points, five assists) supported Bruskotter's efforts.
Junior Carter Weaver led Ontario with 13 points. Junior Grady Schroeder added 12.
Shelby shot 60 percent from the field (27-45), including 2-of-9 on 3-point attempts. Ontario connected on 34 percent from the floor (17-49), including 4-of-20 triples.
Shelby had a 30-23 edge in rebounding and committed four less turnovers, 14-10. The Whippets had a 13-6 edge in points off of turnovers.
