1,000 POINT CLUB: LaFord Leads Wolves To Win

HARRIS---Brett LaFord scored 17 points to reach the 1,000 point mark in his career Tuesday night as the Carney-Nadeau High School boys basketball team held off the Bark River-Harris Broncos, 62-56, in Harris.

It was a game that saw neither team have a lead greater than eight points, and saw LaFord hit his milestone on a free throw in the final minutes of the game.

“I had to control myself,” LaFord said. “Coming down to the end there, I had like six points left with four minutes left, so I had to control myself. It was probably one of the hardest things I ever did. I just knew that if I got to the lane, my three-point shooters, Beau (Koffman), Max (Baumler), Mike (Flanagan), my brother Jerry, they were there. I trust them more than anything.”

LaFord took a big sigh at the free throw line, then sank the foul shot to give his team an eight-point lead, and score his 1,000^th point.

He received a loud ovation from BR-H public address announcer Brent Madalinski as fans from both schools applauded. LaFord got hugs and high-fives from his teammates, and from the rival Bronco players, many of whom he is personal friends with.

But before the 1,000^th point?

“They were talking to me,” he laughed, “Their fans, their student section, I just had to block them out. But, they’re competitors.”

Carney-Nadeau Coach Paul Polfus has coached many All-Star players in his Hall of Fame career. He says that LaFord is one of the special ones.

“It’s just that he plays so hard for 32 minutes, at both ends of the floor,” Polfus said. “He’s relentless. He plays with a little chip on his shoulder, which I think all great high school basketball players do. He always has that edge, and he’s really a coachable kid.”

Besides LaFord’s milestone, there was plenty of excitement in this rivalry game, which saw the Broncos lead, 11-10, after one quarter, before the Wolves outscored BR-H 17-10, in the second quarter to take a 27-21 lead at halftime.

Five of those points came quickly, after Trent Keschick was called for a foul on Beau Koffman while Koffman was shooting a triple.

BR-H Coach Marc Zawacki protested, and was given a technical foul. Koffman made three of the four foul shots and the Wolves scored when they got the ball back.

In the third quarter, though, the Broncos started to pound the ball inside to Keshick and Riley Bray, and that got BR-H back into the game.

The Broncos took the lead on a couple of occasions, but the Wolves got big triples from Brayden Kakuk, Max Baumler, and LaFord’s little brother, Jerry Lee (off a pass from Brett).

“Every kid stepped up in certain instances where we had to,” Polfus said. “It was great to finish out a game. I mean, Bark River has a good team, and they gave us trouble on the boards, but, we toughed it out.”

For Bark River-Harris, it was another tough loss in a close game.

“They have a strong defense, and they’ve got some good perimeter offense, so it was the game we anticipated,” Coach Zawacki said. “We just would like the score to be the other way. There was one spot where we turned the ball over at a crucial spot coming down in transition, and that’s when they came back and I think they hit a three there and we were up by two. Then we got into a hole that we were never able to climb out of.”

Bray led the Broncos with 20 points. Keshick added 12 points.

Four Wolves finished in double figures for scoring. LaFord had 17, Koffman 14, Baumler 13, and Kakuk, perhaps the unsung hero in the game, had 12 off the bench.

On this night, it was LaFord’s milestone that will be remembered most.

“I want to think my coaches over the years,” LaFord said. “Coach Polfus, Jake Polfus, Paul Polfus, I mean, just thank you to them. I wouldn’t be able to do it without them, and without my teammates.”

Carney improved to 11-7 on the season while BR-H fell to 7-8.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos and videos, and hear post-game comments from LaFord, Polfus, and Zawacki.