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It was a surreal moment for Jaxson Bernecker.
Cedar Catholic’s 6-5 post went up, grabbed the ball and put it in from short range to score against rival Wayne and that basket was just enough to cut a big deficit by a mere two points early in the game.
Suddenly there was a loud cheer as the Trojans turned to play defense.
Bernecker admitted later that it was a bit odd to hear a roar for a team getting beat up – of course, the Cedar Catholic Trojans basketball team found a way to win in double overtime – but that hoop was a big deal for the senior.
He started the game with 999 career points so the next time the ball went through the bottom of the net via his hand, he would pass the four-digit barrier.
“It was weird hearing the crowd go, ‘Oh, yayyyyy,’ when we were down 10-plus points,” Bernecker said. “It was funny, because my family knew and the rest of the crowd were like, ‘Um, why are we cheering?’ I think I just smiled and ran down the court. I just got an offensive rebound and put it back in.
“I mean we ended up winning the game so it is still a memorable night.”
Bernecker credits his teammates for getting him to the milestone.
“I have had a lot of good teammates that have gotten me good shots and helped me get to that goal,” he said. “I spent a lot of time in the gym to get some shots up.”
Bernecker said his outside shot has advanced the most over the last couple of years and that has given him more flexibility to attack the rim and use combination attacks into the paint.
“I don’t think I took a three until my junior year,” he said.
The four-sport standout admits that the milestone is partially a product of work and also being around long enough and being reliable during that time to get there.
“It’s a combination of both (being old and good),” Bernecker said. “It feels good and I definitely enjoyed the moment. It was one of the goals I wanted to achieve and now I move on to bigger and better.”
Bernecker said he will move on to college next year at Wayne State and will do so as a student only.
“It’s been great with me going to state two out of my first three years and hopefully we can do that again this year,” Bernecker said. “I have made a lot of friends and I still talked to guys I played with freshman and sophomore year. I even had a guy text me, ‘Welcome to the 1,000 club.’”
