DERRY, N.H. — The moment Pinkerton Academy star Jackson Marshall and so many in the attendance were waiting for on Tuesday, the moment history was made, came with 4:59 to go in the second quarter.
With the crowd chanting, “Jackson, Jackson,” the towering 6-foot-9 junior took a pass on the left wing and smoothly swished a 3-pointer.
With that, Marshall reached 1,000 points — or 1,001 to be exact — in his already illustrious high school career. He finished the night with 25 points in just over three quarters of an 84-53 win over Winnacunnet, giving him 1,009 points as an Astro.
“It’s definitely a great accomplishment,” said Marshall, who has led Pinkerton to an undefeated 14-0 record this winter. “When I got here as a freshman, I honestly never thought I would get this far. Not too many people accomplish this. To do it on my home court, in front of my friends and family, is really special. It’s an amazing feeling.”
The accomplishment is made that much more impressive considering he reached the mark — which so many athletes work their entire career towards — with five games and the playoffs remaining this season and all of his senior season still to play.
“It’s very cool that I did it this early, and still have next year to see what I can do,” said the Eagle-Tribune basketball and baseball All-Star. “It’s really cool. I have great teammates, and it’s great to be 6-9. Hopefully I can break the Pinkerton scoring record next year. But as long as we’re winning, that’s all that matters.”
Marshall — who is averaging 23.4 points a game this winter — becomes the second member of his family to reach 1,000 high school points. His dad, 6-foot-10 Dan Marshall, scored 1,858 points at Amesbury High (class of ‘91). He was then a three-year captain at Assumption.
Coincidentally, Dan scored his 1,000th high school point exactly 32 years and one day before his son.
“This is something that Jackson has worked very hard towards,” said Dan. “I’m so happy for him. He’s always busted his butt out there. Teams always throw their best defenses at him, and he keeps playing well. I’m so proud of him.”
FOLLOWING DAD’S FOOTSTEPS
Growing up, basketball was a constant in the Marshall household.
“I’m old and broken down now, but we used to have great driveway 1-on-1 games,” said Dan. “And we used to have an indoor hoop, so we would have family shooting contests when he was 4 or 5-years-old.”
Added Jackson: “My dad was pretty good back in the day. We still watch videos from his career. It teaches me how to move around with the ball and get offensive positioning. We are both big men. I’ve learned a lot. I also like busting his chops when we watch them. I reminding him that I can beat him 1-on-1 now.”
Despite his long list of accomplishments, Dan admits his son has overtaken him as a player.
“Jackson is way better than I ever was,” said Dan. “I have to give him that credit. He’s a much better shooter than I was. I didn’t start shooting 3’s until college. He has better post moves and better footwork than me. I mostly relied on being tall. He’s also a stronger and tougher player than I was. I’m very proud of him.”
But could Jackson break his dad’s family scoring record?
“Over 1,800 is a big number,” said Dan. “But if anyone can do it, Jackson can.”
BRILLIANT ASTROS CAREER, WITH TIME TO GO
Marshall wasn’t expecting big things when he arrived at Pinkerton two years ago. Instead, he became the 11th freshman ever to earn Eagle-Tribune boys basketball All-Star honors after averaging 9.5 points per game.
“I thought I was going to play JV as a freshman,” he said. “So it was pretty amazing to end up starting and playing so well. It was pretty exciting.”
Marshall took his game to a new level last winter. He repeated as an Eagle-Tribune All-Star after averaging 21 points and 10 rebounds a game.
He has continued to excel this season. He’s been held below 20 points in just two games, and under 15 points just once for the unbeaten Astros.
But he wasn’t counting down to 1,000 — until last week.
“It wasn’t until the last game (a 76-45 win over Windham),” he said. “I found out I had 959 points, then went out and scored 25 points. My dad told me about it, and I was very excited. It’s something special.”
But even more important to Marshall is what Pinkerton can accomplish this winter.
“As long as we’re winning, I’m not worried about stats,” he said. “We want to keep winning, and hopefully go to the state championship game and win.”
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