Proctor senior reaches 1,000-point mark
For Proctor High School senior Kaz Anderson, basketball has been a part of his life since he could walk. Growing up with a basketball in his hand – and a football in the other — and as a member of the Rails varsity team since he was a freshman, Anderson has dreamed of helping his team succeed.By: Sarah Packingham, for the Duluth Budgeteer News
- Kaz Anderson
- Sarah Packingham
For Proctor High School senior Kaz Anderson, basketball has been a part of his life since he could walk. Growing up with a basketball in his hand – and a football in the other — and as a member of the Rails varsity team since he was a freshman, Anderson has dreamed of helping his team succeed.
Never once did he imagine the success his basketball career would hold for him on a personal level. Yet, on Friday, Jan. 27, in front of a home-crowd, Anderson scored his 1,000th career point.
“I scored my 1,000th point off of a free throw versus Hibbing with 17.6 seconds left in the game,” Anderson said, setting the stage. “I knew those last two free throws were it. They were the two biggest, most stressful free throws in my whole life.”
Anderson said that it meant a lot to him to reach this milestone in his basketball career. Although he spends his fall playing football and his spring in track or baseball, he believes that basketball can be different than nearly any other sport.
“Basketball is so different because it involves a whole team effort,” he said. “If one person fails, everyone fails.”
Anderson gives lots of credit to his coaching staff and teammates for his success. He never imagined being able to score 1,000 points in his career, until midway through last season when he realized that he wasn’t that far off.
Although Proctor went on to lose the game, Anderson and his family and teammates were happy to celebrate his success at reaching the historic sports milestone.
With a few weeks left in the regular season, the Rails do have some team goals in mind. They are looking forward to the opportunity to play at UMD in either the second or third round of the playoffs and potentially earn a trip to the state tournament.
Once basketball season is done for Anderson, he’s on to his next sport, which will be either baseball or track this year. But he is more than happy to focus his efforts on helping the Rails reach their team goals.
And for younger athletes getting started, whether in basketball or any other sport, Anderson has a piece of advice: “Work hard, and never let anybody tell you that you can’t do something because of where you’re from, that other people are better than you, that you won’t achieve your goal.”
Duluthian Sarah Packingham writes a weekly sports column for the Budgeteer. Contact her at sarah.packingham@gmail.com
Tags: budge sports, budgeteer
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