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POCONO SUMMIT — KJ Coles needed 26 points to make program history against Bethlehem Catholic. Four quarters and 31 points later, the Pocono Mountain West senior surpassed Isaiah Wiggins to become the school's all-time leading scorer in the Panthers' 70-38 win over the Golden Eagles.
"It's a great accomplishment," Coles said after the game. "I feel blessed, giving thanks to God. I want to thank my coaches, teammates and everybody who helped me reach this point."
The Kutztown University commit said he didn't know how much he needed to break the school's record until about 2 hours before the game, when assistant coach Tyrel Dixon mentioned it to him. Dixon also coached Wiggins during West's district title season in 2016-17. Even after learning about it, however, Coles didn't want to force the issue.
"I knew my teammates were going to get me the ball. I'm just super blessed to play with those guys," Coles said.
Penn State hoops news: 'It might kill me,' but Mike Rhoades is seeing it through with Penn State basketball
Wiggins was also in attendance for the record-breaking perforamnce, and when Coles officially reached the milestone, they stopped the game to honor him, and the two leading scorers posed for a photo together.
After the game, Coles is now at 1,577 career points, which is No. 4 all-time in Pocono area history.
Rich Williams had the chance to coach every boys 1,000-point scorer in West history. As an assistant he coach Isaiah's older brother, Joe Wiggins, the first to reach the milestone with 1,107 career points; then in 2017, three players reached the milestone prior to graduation - Isaiah (1571), Lance Singh (1,561) and Jalen Vaughns (1,168).
As a head coach, he saw Christian Fermin (1,021) reach it in a COVID-shortened career, then Adrian Brito (1,409) before he left for East Stroudsburg University.
Now as Coles reached the No. 1 spot, Williams was in a reflective mood after the game.
"Our history is pretty thick in terms of having some fantastic players go through our program in the last 24 years, and not only be like really good individual scores, but really good team guys who believed in the team," Williams said. "KJ fits really well on that list. Having KJ take the reins from Isaiah Wiggins is fitting because KJ wants to win.
"He's just a special player that I'm super proud to have gotten a chance to coach. I'm blessed. I thank his mom and his dad for entrusting me with him. In this day and age, all these kids and these parents are looking for the easy way out, or something bigger or better, thinking the grass is always greener on the other side. The grass is greener where you and your parents water it, and West has very green grass."
Speaking of winning, West improved to 9-1 with the win over Bethlehem Catholic, and the Panthers are in the thick of a very tight race in the EPC. It feels like it's anyone's title, so there is no rest for the Panthers going down the stretch.
"I think a lot of those teams are worthy of an EPC title. And our job is to put our name in the mix," Williams said. "We need to have a good 'second season' as we call it. We didn't play over break, the first year we haven't done that since before COVID, but we needed it.
"We need to get healthy, and we need to make a push."
The program's new leading scorer echoed his head coach's sentiment. Coles already has a district title, but not an EPC title. So before West even gets to the 6A bracket, the Panthers have to worry about surviving a tough conference.
"We just have to remain confident in ourselves," Coles said. "Focus on what we gotta do. Don't focus on anybody else. We just have to continue getting better as individuals and as a team, and play together whenever we step out on the court."
This article originally appeared on Pocono Record: KJ Coles becomes West basketball's all-time leading scorer
Continue reading...
"It's a great accomplishment," Coles said after the game. "I feel blessed, giving thanks to God. I want to thank my coaches, teammates and everybody who helped me reach this point."
The Kutztown University commit said he didn't know how much he needed to break the school's record until about 2 hours before the game, when assistant coach Tyrel Dixon mentioned it to him. Dixon also coached Wiggins during West's district title season in 2016-17. Even after learning about it, however, Coles didn't want to force the issue.
"I knew my teammates were going to get me the ball. I'm just super blessed to play with those guys," Coles said.
Penn State hoops news: 'It might kill me,' but Mike Rhoades is seeing it through with Penn State basketball
Wiggins was also in attendance for the record-breaking perforamnce, and when Coles officially reached the milestone, they stopped the game to honor him, and the two leading scorers posed for a photo together.
After the game, Coles is now at 1,577 career points, which is No. 4 all-time in Pocono area history.
Rich Williams had the chance to coach every boys 1,000-point scorer in West history. As an assistant he coach Isaiah's older brother, Joe Wiggins, the first to reach the milestone with 1,107 career points; then in 2017, three players reached the milestone prior to graduation - Isaiah (1571), Lance Singh (1,561) and Jalen Vaughns (1,168).
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As a head coach, he saw Christian Fermin (1,021) reach it in a COVID-shortened career, then Adrian Brito (1,409) before he left for East Stroudsburg University.
Now as Coles reached the No. 1 spot, Williams was in a reflective mood after the game.
"Our history is pretty thick in terms of having some fantastic players go through our program in the last 24 years, and not only be like really good individual scores, but really good team guys who believed in the team," Williams said. "KJ fits really well on that list. Having KJ take the reins from Isaiah Wiggins is fitting because KJ wants to win.
"He's just a special player that I'm super proud to have gotten a chance to coach. I'm blessed. I thank his mom and his dad for entrusting me with him. In this day and age, all these kids and these parents are looking for the easy way out, or something bigger or better, thinking the grass is always greener on the other side. The grass is greener where you and your parents water it, and West has very green grass."
Speaking of winning, West improved to 9-1 with the win over Bethlehem Catholic, and the Panthers are in the thick of a very tight race in the EPC. It feels like it's anyone's title, so there is no rest for the Panthers going down the stretch.
"I think a lot of those teams are worthy of an EPC title. And our job is to put our name in the mix," Williams said. "We need to have a good 'second season' as we call it. We didn't play over break, the first year we haven't done that since before COVID, but we needed it.
"We need to get healthy, and we need to make a push."
The program's new leading scorer echoed his head coach's sentiment. Coles already has a district title, but not an EPC title. So before West even gets to the 6A bracket, the Panthers have to worry about surviving a tough conference.
"We just have to remain confident in ourselves," Coles said. "Focus on what we gotta do. Don't focus on anybody else. We just have to continue getting better as individuals and as a team, and play together whenever we step out on the court."
This article originally appeared on Pocono Record: KJ Coles becomes West basketball's all-time leading scorer
Continue reading...
