The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
ARC HONORED FOR MILESTONE, PACES ROUT
Exceeding 1,000 points scored in Elmore James’ high school career is just the beginning for the Brush junior standout.
With nine Division I offers and plenty more to come, James has all of the potential to graduate from Brush as the best scorer in school history. James put that and more on display as Brush defeated Kenston, 72-48, at Wesler Gymnasium on Feb. 9.
Following a game-high 38-point performance, James has now totaled 1,133 points in his career and 108 points in just his last three games.
“It’s a testament to that young man’s work ethic,” Brush coach Chet Mason said of James’ 1,000 points scored achievement. “He’s a hard worker. There’s a lot of hard work that he puts in that people don’t see.”
Under Mason, James has become the fourth Arc to achieve 1,000 career points. The other three players — D.J. Dial (South Dakota), Andre Harris (Wright State) and John Hugley (Pittsburgh) — all went on to play college basketball at the D-I level.
“They’re all unique in their own way,” Mason said. “Elmore has Division I offers. He’s right there. He has a chance to break the school record. Elmore has a chance to shatter the school record.”
James holds offers from Cleveland State, Miami (Ohio), Ohio and Tulane, among others. Cincinnati, Michigan State, Missouri, Ohio State and Xavier are also on the radar.
“He has some really good ones,” Mason said. “In the pandemic, when college coaches come out. My thing is kids aren’t getting offered in the class like that. Elmore is getting offers, so it’s a blessing.”
To start the game, James scored the team’s first four points, which immediately put the game out-of-reach for an overmatched Bombers.
Throughout the first 16 minutes of play, James made his first 11 shots, his only miss coming off a 70foot Hail Mary with two seconds remaining in the opening half.
“It felt great scoring 1,000 points,” James said. “That boosted my confidence up going to this game even more, so I felt great when I came out.”
Mason acknowledged James scoring fast and early is typical of the 6-3 junior guard, but doing so essentially without a miss in the first half was almost unheard of.
“He shoots a really good percentage to start the game,” Mason said. “When his 3 is going, he is hard to stop.”
In the first quarter, James lit up the scoreboard with 17 points. By the end of the first half, he had totaled 26 points with three made 3-pointers.
With the help of junior forward Antwone Woolfolk’s eight points in the first half, Brush led Kenston 44-17.
The scoring slowed
down for Brush in the second half, as James totaled 10 of his team’s 13 points in the third quarter.
By the fourth quarter, a Brush team that only had eight players available for the game was spent. Luckily, James’ lights-out first half was enough to secure the Arcs’ 11th win of the season.
James only scored two points in the fourth quarter, missing a career-high 45 points by seven. In the final eight minutes, Brush outscored Kenston, 15-13.
“I just wanted to share the ball with my brothers,” James said. “Get them going.”
After coming off an injury, James played the first 28:12 of the game without rest. He finished the night 16-of-21 from the field and also added five rebounds and an assist. Junior Andrew Jones aided the Arcs with a team-high 11 rebounds and five assists.
Brush improved to 11-3 with the win and have just three games remaining before the OHSAA tournament. Kenston fell to 5-3 and has five more games remaining on its schedule.