As nice as the 1,000-point career milestone is, the three newest members of the club from the region have a much more pressing agenda.
Pelham High, which saw seniors Zach James and Dom Herrling cross the magic threshold weeks apart, is prepping to defend its Division II state championship in New Hampshire.
Meanwhile, suddenly surging Haverhill High celebrated its top gun, Alejandro Delgado, reaching the magic mark a week ago at Beverly in the midst of a three-game win streak that basically saved the season.
Delgado, Hillies riding high
The 9-11 Hillies may be seeded deep in the 20s when the pairings come out on Saturday morning, but try telling that to Delgado and his boys.
“We’re just excited to still be playing. It looks like we’re going to have a home playoff (preliminary) game, and it’s the first time for that for us,” said Delgado.
“It was a lot of pressure on us. The coaches talked about it. After we lost to Beverly (10 days ago), the pressure was really on us. We had to play our hardest and play like those games (Beverly, Salem and Methuen) were our last game. That’s what we did.
“We’re really focused on the tournament, now. We think we can make a run.”
For Delgado, the past two weeks have been more than just the usual thrill of finishing out his superb Hillie career.
It almost didn’t happen.
“I was disappointed in myself, it was my responsibility, all on me. I let my teammates down, coaches down, all the people around me down,” said Delgado, who let the end of the quarter get the best of him academically.
He missed games, scrambling to get his studies back in order, just to get the opportunity to be back on the court.
“It taught me a lesson. I’m just glad to be back. I’m not going to lie. I was tearing up, watching the team out there without me. But I did the work, I’ll learn from it. I promised my teachers, I will stay on top of everything now. I was just so thankful for that chance.”
Scoring the 1,000th point was certainly a moment of pride.
“It’s a big accomplishment, but couldn’t have done it without my teammates,” said Delgado, who has applied to prep schools like Tilton and Winchendon, where he is hoping to spend a post-grad year and continue playing basketball. “I feel like it’s a good way to represent the high school. I didn’t even know I was close to it. It means a lot, knowing the amount of work I put in. The MVC is a tough league. There were ups and downs. I just kept going.”
Python pair prospers
Former Pelham High boys coach and current AD Todd Kress has seen some hoop legends get to work in the “Snake Pit.”
What has transpired over the past couple years in Pelham, though, has shattered even some of the greatest legends.
“(Dom Herrling and Zach James) is the most dynamic backcourt in my 24 years in Pelham,” says Kress. “It’s also the best rebounding back court I can ever remember as well.”
James, whose legendary state tourney run last winter (28.0 ppg in four straight playoff wins) already placed him among the Python all-time greats. He crossed the 1,000-point mark in late January.
Then, this past week in the regular season finale, it was Herrling’s turn, making it two members of the PHS Class of ’24, to score 1,000. That had not been done by classmates ever in school history.
“I think it’s awesome that Dom and I could do it in the same year,” said James. “I think the main reason we work so well together is that all five of our senior starters (Peter Hemmerdinger, Logan Dumont and Connor Travis) and our sixth man Adrian Villanueva have been playing together since the fourth grade. There’s a lot of chemistry, and everyone knows their roles.”
Herrling has his own little niche of glory, what with four straight football state titles and last year’s hoop championship mixed in.
He’ll also go into the books as the only 1,000-point scorer and 1,000-yard rusher in Python history.
“It’s unbelievable. I’ve been extremely blessed to be in position to score 1,000. Coach (Mike) Larsen trusted me, as a freshman as the sixth man, to put me in that position. and Coach (Joe) Morin allowed me to keep with it,” said Herrling, who like all seniors dealt with a condensed freshman year, losing a handful of games, due to the pandemic.
“You don’t see two guys on the same team do it often. It’s pretty crazy. It shows how dynamic the team is, and how great we’ve been able to play together.”
The next few weeks are the Cadillac of the winter season with dreams achieved, hearts broken and memories made for a lifetime.
Heading into that time riding the high of a 1,000-point celebration is a sweet way to head to the postseason.