By Tom Nader

Publisher and Editor

Seven scoring phenoms have celebrated reaching the 1,000-point milestone during the 2023-24 boys and girls basketball seasons.

Three of the seven are still only juniors, but all seven have authored special high-school careers that now place them in a special category in their respective schools’ history.

Here is a look at the players and how they achieved their scoring milestones.

DEKOTA JOHNSON

CRESTWOOD, 6-FOOT-1, JUNIOR

Freshman: 293 points

Sophomore: 480 points

Junior: 423 points (and counting)

• What makes him a special scorer: “Dekota has consistently put time into his craft,” Crestwood head coach Josh Jakacki said. “He is a tireless worker, even going and getting extra work in during the season. He has really started to grow his mid-range game and is learning the importance of playing off of two feet. He has always demonstrated the ability to stretch the floor from deep, but he is utilizing the 3 to create other scoring opportunities, as well as setting up his teammates. He’s taking too tough coaching and has evolved as a scorer as well. He has gotten to the rim and is still scratching the surface of his talent.”
• What makes him fun to coach: “He doesn’t have much to say and puts his head down, remaining coachable in many moments,” Jakacki said. “He just wants to be the best version of himself day in and out. He, arguably, has a chance to become our greatest scorer in Crestwood history and continues to do it with a humble demeanor and a sincere desire to continue to improve on and off the court. I’m so very proud of him as a player, but more proud of him as the person he is.”

Other Crestwood 1,000-point scorers:

Jordan Fabry 1,754 points

Mason Angle 1,540 (813 at Windham, 715 at Crestwood)

Trent Jakacki 1,339

Josh Jakacki 1,278

Nate Calapa 1,083

Mason Jakacki 1,063

DELILAH RAHE

FIELD, 5-FOOT-10, JUNIOR

Freshman: 355 points

Sophomore: 457 points

Junior: 391 points (and counting)

• What makes her a special scorer: “She is so athletic and has a knack at putting the ball in the hoop,” Field coach John Misenko said. “She can score inside and out, which is special. She has the possibility of being a 1,000-point scorer and rebounder and has the chance to break some school records.”
• What makes her fun to coach: “I am glad Delilah is on our team,” Misenko said. “She scores in so many ways and that is special. She can push the ball in transition, attack in half court, gets to the free-throw line and scores off rebounds. She makes it hard on the defense.”

Other Field 1,000-point scorers:

Maria Sziva 1,370 points

Camille Adelman 1,194

Jen Moreck 1,037

LAYNE MILLER

MOGADORE, 6-FOOT, SENIOR

Freshman: 14 points

Sophomore: 283 points

Junior: 388 points

Senior: 378 points (and counting)

• What makes him a special scorer: “He has continued to develop his game over his career,” Mogadore coach Russ Swartz said. “His ball-skills have continued to improve and because of that, he has become more aggressive. As a freshman and sophomore, over 70 percent of his points came from the 3-point line. As a junior and senior, that number is down to just under 60 percent of his points. All of that means that his 2-point field goal and free-throw scoring has increased over his career.”
• What makes him fun to coach: “Layne has been enjoyable to coach because he is unselfish, he puts the team’s success first, he plays his role to his strengths, he has continued to improve his skills and even though he is quiet, he is a leader by example because he comes to the gym and works hard each day,” Swartz said.

Other Mogadore 1,000-point scorers:

Lukas Swartz 1,961 points

Tom Adolph 1,670

Rod Swartz 1,494

Tom Pollock 1,473

Andy Francis 1,403

Jarad Dunn 1,268

Randy Pierce 1,237

Bert Vaughn 1,206

Rick Brown 1,149

Bob Bookwalter 1,098

Ron Ward 1,091

Russ Swartz 1,067

Dale Holegate 1,067

Zeddie Pollock 1,060

Ron Pierce 1,006

GARRETT SPRUTTE

SOUTHEAST, 6-FOOT-2, SENIOR

Freshman: n/a

Sophomore: n/a

Junior: 490

Senior: 591

• What makes him a special scorer: “Garrett has the ability to score in multiple ways,” Southeast coach Matt Dillon said. “He scores from the perimeter and has improved his ability to make the 3-point shot. This has freed him up to attack the basket, and he has the athleticism to hit pull-up jumpers, as well as get all the way to the rim. His rebounding ability allows him to score around the basket and get fouled, and he is a terrific foul shooter. Some kids are shooters and some kids are pure scorers. Garrett is an old-school type of player, who finds different ways to score each game.”
• What makes him fun to coach: “Garrett has been an awesome kid to coach,” Dillon said. “He is a very hard working, self-motivated player. His work ethic has rubbed off on the younger players. He loves being in the gym. He smiles when he is playing. In my opinion, he genuinely loves playing basketball.”

Other Southeast 1,000-point scorers:

Seth Truman 1,792 points

Micah Herndon 1,280

Eddie Hunt 1,174

Patrick Divoky 1,115

Joe DeJacimo 1,050

NAOMI BENSON

STREETSBORO, 6-FOOT-3, JUNIOR

Freshman: 336 points

Sophomore: 383

Junior: 369 (and counting)

• What makes her a special scorer: “What is special about Naomi is that in a time where most 1,000-point scorers are doing a lot of it from 3-point range, she has only one 3 in her career,” Streetsboro coach Carl Singer said. “While she is capable of hitting those shots, she knows she can get to the basket and score more efficiently, as she is a 52 percent shooter for her career.”
• What makes her fun to coach: “As a coach, it is always a joy to coach a talented player and Naomi is as talented as they come,” Singer said. “With all of the big-time schools recruiting her and getting award after award, it would lead a lot of players to have an attitude or entitlement, but anybody that knows Naomi would definitely not use those words to describe her. She is an amazing person that is coachable and a great teammate.”

Other Streetsboro 1,000-point scorers:

Rachel Bolyard 1,348 points

Kim Taylor 1,057

MARIAH WOODS

WINDHAM, 5-FOOT-6, SENIOR

• What makes her a special scorer: “Mariah has the ability to use her teammates so that they can’t just focus on her,” Windham coach Jimmy Collins said.
• What makes her fun to coach: “She plays the position that I played, so watching her grow into a point guard is where my joy is, but also because she is a special person.”

BRIAH DANIEL

WINDHAM, 5-FOOT-8, SENIOR

• What makes her a special scorer: “She is typically the most athletic kid on the court and can beat you from deep and beat you up on the post, along with her ability to rebound on both ends,” Collins said.
• What makes her fun to coach: “The joy with Briah is seeing the self-belief come to maturity. She used to always tell me, ‘I can’t do that.’ Now, she does it all without any discussion.”

Other Windham 1,000-point scorers:

Jessica Isler 1,810 points

Julie McDivitt 1,614

Ali Roach 1,412

Brittany Knight 1,331

Colleen McGuire 1,248

Lexi Knight 1,150

Dari Heller 1,104

Cailtyn Isler 1,056