Hopewell Township- It wasn’t a question of if but when.
Entering tonight’s game against Freedom, Hopewell senior Zach Kovell was just 1 point away from accumulating 1,000 career points.
The opening few possessions everyone in the stands and on the Hopewell bench were anticipating the moment as Kovell missed a few slots before achieving the milestone.
Then a few minutes into the 1st quarter, it was fitting Kovell scored career point 1,001 on his customary quick first step, drive to the basket.
Here it was:
After getting that out of the way, Kovell and the rest of the Vikings had no trouble the rest of the way as they overwhelmed Freedom, 66-29.
Kovell was able to reflect on this moment with Vikings Sports Now.
“It’s a huge accomplishment that I’ve worked hard for over the past 4 years,” said Kovell. “I knew coming into high school that I wanted to go down as one of the best basketball players to come through Hopewell and hitting the 1000 point mark is a step in the right direction.”
“I couldn’t have done it without the support of all of my coaches and teammates over the past 4 years. Without them I wouldn’t have been able to hit this mark. I also want to give a huge thanks to my parents. They have supported me when I had great games and when I had terrible games. If it weren’t for my parents pushing me to never give up, I would have never came close to 1000.”
Although this was a huge personal moment, Kovell made sure to remember the ultimate goal that he still hopes to reach- make the playoffs.
“Although this accomplishment has been reached, that doesn’t mean the season is over,” said Kovell. “The boys on the team and I have a common goal, make playoffs. Although we have a couple more losses than we would like, we are ready to come out the rest of the season and play to our best ability.”