South Side's Jake McDougal one of top 30 scorers in the WPIAL
GREENE TWP. — If he avoids injury, Jake McDougal projects as the seventh player in South Side history to surpass 1,000 career points in basketball.
It may happen sometime in mid February. If not then, he'll likely reach the 1,000-point milestone next December.
But McDougal, a junior swingman, isn't overly concerned with how many points he's going to score the rest of this season. His main focus is helping the Rams qualify for the WPIAL playoffs for the first time since 2012 and only the fifth time in school history. He wants him and his teammates to experience the thrill of winning a postseason game for the first time in South Side history.
"We've been thinking about that ever since we got to high school," McDougal said Monday before practice. "How special that would be for our team, our school and our community if we can do that."
Going into Tuesday's Section 4, Class 3A game at first-place Washington (10-3, 6-0), the Rams are only 6-8 overall. But they are in third place at 5-2 in section play.
Even with a loss Tuesday to Washington, there's a chance South Side can clinch a playoff berth Friday with a home win Friday over Brownsville (5-9, 1-5).
"We have a young team; no seniors," McDougal said. "We're playing well together, and we're getting better."
Certainly McDougal is doing his part to make South Side a playoff contender. Playing either shooting guard or small forward, he leads the team in scoring at 20 points per game. He's one of the top 30 scorers in the WPIAL.
He's been chosen as The Times' Boys Athlete of the Week after scoring 18 points twice last week.
"We have a lot of guys who can score," said McDougal, who's faced his share of gimmick defenses geared to slow him down. "We like to run, spread the floor and distribute the ball to the guy who's open."
"Jake's doing great," said coach Robert Harrison. "He's a great kid who does everything asked of him. He doesn't force anything. He's a scorer, but he's not a ball hog. He makes sure everyone gets involved."
South Side's all-time leading boys scorer is Zach Kalinoski, a 2004 graduate who scored 1,445 points in his career. Others in the Rams' 1,000-point club are Michael Courtwright, Class of 1995 (1,182); Calub Courtwright, class of 1994 (1,145); Eric Weinberger, class of 1980 (1,103); Justin Gentile, class of 2012 (1,036); and Dan Marnhout, class of 2006 (1,019).
With 834 career points, McDougal is 166 away.
With eight regular-season games left on the schedule and the possibility of at least one playoff game, McDougal can reach 1,000 this year if he averages 18.4 ppg the rest of the way.
Then again, he's not concerned about how many point he scores. He just wants to do whatever it takes to help his team make the playoffs and record the first post-season victory in South Side history.
Click here to Reply or Forward
8% full
Using 2.56 GB of your 30 GB
Program Policies
Powered by
Last account activity: in 2 minutes
Open in 1 other location Details