McCollough joins 1,000-point club, Raiders make history in rout
Mar. 6—MIDDLETOWN — With an early second quarter 3-point basket, Kaden McCollough put himself over the 1,000 point milestone and his Shenandoah teammates into the Indiana High School Basketball record books.
But this achievement came during the Raiders' Sectional 41 semifinal game against the team's biggest obstacle to a fifth straight sectional championship, so Shenandoah needed to finish taking care of business before celebrating.
Andrew Bennett scored 19 of his game-high 24 points in the first half, and McCollough's shot started the decisive run that broke the game open as the second-ranked Raiders routed the 10th-ranked Northeastern Knights 68-39 Friday night.
McCollough became the third Raider — and third in his class — to reach the milestone, making it both an individual and a team achievement.
"I can't really put it into words because these guys I play with — I wouldn't get it, and they wouldn't get it without each other," he said. "I just love playing with them and to be the first school is one thing and to experience it with them, I love that because I love these guys so much."
According to available records, this is the first time in Indiana high school basketball history for one team to have three players from the same graduating class score over 1,000 points in their careers. Bennett reached the milestone in last year's sectional championship win — also against Northeastern — and Jakeb Kinsey joined him last week against Union.
"I know it's awfully special," Shenandoah coach — and Kaden's father — Dave McCollough said. "I've had several 1,000-point scorers in my career, but when you've done this for a half-century, you're bound to. But to have three of them on one team, to me that says not only something about the kid that got it but also a lot about the teammates he played with. If those guys aren't sharing the ball, then no one gets the accolades."
After the first quarter of the game, Shenandoah (23-3) held a 13-11 lead. On the first second-quarter possession for the Raiders, McCollough received a pass from Kameron Graddy and drilled his first trey at the 7:28 mark for a 16-11 lead.
That basket began a 16-5 run, and the Raiders outscored the Knights 24-11 in the quarter for a 37-22 halftime lead.
Northeastern (19-5), which lost to Shenandoah by just three points earlier in the year, cut the lead to 12 in the third quarter but got no closer. The shooting of Bennett was a big part. He made his first two 3-point attempts on his way to a 5-of-6 first-half shooting performance.
He scored just two points in the first meeting, his first game back after a serious football injury.
"Going into the game, I was pretty nervous. That was the most nervous I've ever been before a game," he said. "Usually, when I'm nervous, it (pushes) me to compete a little more."
Bennett's 24 led four Raiders in double figures. McCollough finished with 16 points — including four made 3s — Michael Howard scored 11, and Graddy scored 10 points with seven rebounds. In addition to his scoring, McCollough also led the Raiders with eight rebounds and seven assists.
As big as anything the Raiders did offensively, it was Shenandoah's defense that paved the way to victory.
Kolden Vanlandingham scored 36 points in the first meeting but tallied just 11 this time around, while Carter Lumpkin's total dropped from 22 earlier this season to just two after the Knights were held to just one made 3-point basket after connecting on 9-of-23 in the first meeting.
"To me, it all starts on the defensive end," Dave McCollough said. "If somebody had told me that we'd hold them to under 40 (points), I'm not sure I would have seen that happening."
McCollough credited his leading scorer, Jakeb Kinsey, with keeping Vanlandingham in check much of the night.
The Raiders will face Eastern Hancock on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. for the sectional championship. The Royals were 84-56 winners in the first semifinal game Friday.
Contact Rob Hunt at
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