Sports

Boys Basketball: Jude Swann’s career-high 41 points gives him 1,000

Jude Swann must feel as if he had won the lottery twice. Once again, his magic number came up: 1,000.

Within a span of nine days, Swann collected his 1,000th career rebound and scored his 1,000th career point for the Greenport High School boys basketball team.

The latter came as something of a surprise Wednesday night. With Swann needing 41 points to reach the millennial mark, some might have expected it to take him two or three more games to hit that milestone. Swann had other ideas.

The 6-4 senior center poured in a career-high 41 points to leave him exactly at 1,000 in an 87-51 Suffolk County League VII defeat of Pierson at Richard “Dude” Manwaring Gymnasium in Greenport. With five minutes to go in the fourth quarter, Swann scored his 1,000th point on a layup off a lob from Ahkee Anderson. The game was stopped as the Porters’ bench ran onto the court and congratulated him. Greenport athletic director Chris Golden presented him with the game ball.

“This was out of leftfield tonight,” Greenport coach Ev Corwin said. “You started feeling a buzz in the second half of the game. I think word started getting around in the stands that he could do this. I wasn’t even thinking about it.”

Swann was on his game. He shot a sizzling 17-for-23 from the field and went 7-for-7 from the foul line.

“He was just a man amongst boys tonight,” Corwin said. “That’s the only way that I could put it.”

Swann also grabbed 10 rebounds, “which is low for him,” said Corwin. That raised Swann’s career rebounding total to 1,037.

After a 15-point first half, Swann registered 18 in the third quarter. Suddenly, 41 points became a real possibility.

“He’s got a nice array of moves now,” Corwin said. “They didn’t have anybody really with any size. He was just at the top of his game. It was a pleasure to watch. He was something.”

It was the 10th straight win for the first-place Porters (12-1, 6-0), who clinched a playoff berth with the win.

Anderson totaled 17 points, 11 assists and six rebounds. Jaxan Swann, Jude’s brother, added 11 points and six steals.

Pierson (6-7, 3-3) was led by Henry Brooks (26 points, four three-pointers) and Cooper Schiavone (10 points).

Swann’s mother, Angela, was on hand to witness the achievement.

“It was an emotional scene there,” Corwin said. “Everybody realizes what he does for this team, and he does it with class.

“I think he was just very, very happy, and his teammates went out there with him. He doesn’t show a lot of emotion, that kid, but you could tell he was happy to share his emotion with his teammates, and his teammates were as happy as him.”

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Photo caption: Greenport senior center Jude Swann is presented with the game ball by athletic director Chris Golden after scoring his 1,000th career point Wednesday night against Pierson. (Credit: Keysha Terry)