It’s an accomplishment reserved for a select group of basketball players.

The 1,000-point plateau is an individual honor. But it’s also a tribute to teammates, coaches, families and friends.

For Northwestern’s Gavin Nelson and Northern Lehigh’s Katelynn Barthold, it was never the focal point in their careers. Like so many of the accolades they’ve received along the way, the scoring milestone is one that was a reflection of their character as much as their capability on the court.

“Oh, honestly, I’ve been playing ever since I was a little kid, so basketball’s been just a huge part of my life,” said Nelson. “It’s brought me all my friends. I’ve been playing with these guys ever since I was little, so really basketball’s just been a good environment for me, just to be able to meet new people, meet new people from other schools, and just overall have a great time. I wouldn’t be as close to my friends and with all these guys if we didn’t play basketball together.”

Needing just one point to reach the milestone, Nelson scored the 1,000th point of his career last Thursday on the first basket of the game in the Tigers’ win against Kutztown, and finished with a game-high 23 points.

Barthold did it a day later in the Bulldogs’ victory over Lehighton, finishing with 18 points.

“It was amazing. Everybody I feel like hopes for it, but they never really know if they’re going to get it,” Barthold said. “This year I didn’t even know how close I was until after the game we played before I got it (a 69-14 win over Lehighton where Barthold scored 23 points), that’s what my coach actually counted it up, and then we found out I only needed four.

“I knew going into this year, I was pretty close just because my coaches had mentioned it to me. But other than that, I didn’t realize like if I would get it or not.”

Tiger Tale

Nelson’s rise up the scoring charts at Northwestern is a reflection of his growth and development both on and off the court. Seeing him

“It’s awesome. I’ve been playing with Gavin since I was in third grade, second grade,” said teammate Eli Zimmerman. “Just to see him accomplish something so special is awesome. I know he wants to go a lot farther than we have in the past years; league championship contender, hopefully he did some district playoffs, maybe even a little state run. Our job is definitely not finished yet. He’s going to celebrate tonight with his family and his friends. It’s just an awesome accomplishment, especially being a part of it.”

That chemistry, much like the Northwestern teams that won state championships in the fall, is a big reason for the Tigers’ roaring out to an 11-2 start.

“Ever since we were little, ever since elementary school we’ve all been playing together,” said Nelson. “Ever since we were super young, playing NYAA basketball, we’ve been together, so really the chemistry has just developed over all those years. We played middle school basketball together. All these kids have been together since day one.

“So we all know how to play together, we all know each other’s strengths and weaknesses. At the end of the day we’re just a really well put together team, and we’re all really good friends, which makes it even better.”

Nelson’s evolution is something Wanamaker has seen at both Northwestern, and as an opposing coach at Northern Lehigh.

“I was fortunate enough to see Gavin as an (opponent) you know for the first few years of his career. We scouted him pretty heavily at Northern Lehigh, so the maturity level that he’s reached from then until now, yeah it’s almost immeasurable,” said Wanamaker. “I think both basketball wise and just as a young man, and he’s battled through a lot. I know when he was really young he set a goal of putting his name up on the wall with the 1,000-point scorers you know as one of his personal goals, but right now he’s focused on the second-half run, and chasing a couple medals. So I’m proud of him.

“I’m glad as a team that we were able to help him get where he needs to be, he’s not going to settle. He’s not going to get content, so he’s going to keep moving forward.”

Nelson has quite a bit to look forward to after basketball season as well. He was third in the high jump last year at states, and has committed to Monmouth University to continue his track and field career.

“Basketball will still have a special place in my heart,” Nelson said.

Brilliant Bulldog

Like Nelson, Barthold is also a sensational multi-sport athlete.

The senior has earned All-State soccer honors, and became the first player in school history to score 100 career goals this past fall.

In the spring, Barthold placed seventh in the 800 at states for her first medal, and helped the record-setting 3200 relay team place ninth.

The drive Barthold has in the spring and fall is the same one that pushes her during basketball season.

“Katelynn is one of the hardest workers that I’ve coached,” said Northern Lehigh mentor Chris Heery. “Seeing her catch a milestone like that at home, I was so happy for her. She was so deserving of it, and she got it fairly quickly in the game. Those games where you know you’re going to probably break that milestone, they’re always difficult ones to get through. I’ve had some players in the past that took them to the third quarter to get about six points, just because of the pressure. And she got it off her shoulders pretty quickly in the first quarter already. So I was just happy for her.”

And like Nelson, enjoying the moment in front of a home crowd made it even more special for Barthold.

“I definitely wanted it to be at home, just because all my friends came and made posters. All my family was there,” said Barthold, who will continue her track and field career at Lafayette College. “Friends, family were there, and it was just It was just like the best feeling being at home with everybody I knew there, and then I even had like my other coaches there from sports. It was definitely the best feeling.”

Barthold has played with tremendous talents, such as Aubrey Pollard, the Times News/Lehigh Valley Health Network Girls Basketball Player of the Year last season, who was an All-State selection and finished her career with 1,426 points.

“Definitely seeing other people like succeed at such a high level like Aubrey, it definitely pushes you to want to be better,” said Barthold. “Not necessarily that I want to get more points than her, but just to do better yourself, every game. And then that also helps the team. Then they can kind of rely on you. And then it just helps when you can rely on everybody because they all want to get better.”

And that has led to tremendous team success in recent years for the Bulldogs, who advanced to the second round of the state tournament last year.

The individual and team success have gone hand-in-hand for the Bulldogs.

“This is my fourth year here, she’s my third player to reach 1,000 points and certainly Tegan (Simms) is well under way there as well,” said Heery. “But something I’ve stressed to them in each of the years is that Katelynn only gets her points if the other players get their points. So it’s a very unselfish environment. With the team as quick as they are, we score transition, we run the ball, we get the ball down the floor quickly.

“And that’s why she has so many points, it’s her hard work in running in transition, and her tenacious defense out there at the point guard spot. It’s incredible.”

Just like Barthold. And just like Nelson.

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INDIAN EXPLOSION ... The Lehighton boys own the highest scoring output in any game this season when they registered a 91-47 victory over Northern Lehigh on Jan. 3.

The last time the Indians put up 90-or-more points in a game was Feb. 12, 1991 when they dropped a 95-93 decision to Pocono Mountain in double overtime — a span of 792 games. Ironically, the game before that (Feb. 8, 1991) was a game they won when they scored 91 against Northern Lehigh.

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DOUBLE-DIGIT CONSISTENCY ... So far this season, five area players have scored at least double figures in every one of their team’s games. The five come from four different schools.

Northern Lehigh’s Connor Simms and Kellen Bauer have both registered at least 10 points in all 11 Bulldog games, while Lehighton’s Joe Roth, Pleasant Valley’s Zach Prator and Weatherly’s Ian McKeegan have all hit double figures in their team’s games.

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TOURNAMENT CHAMPS ... A number of area basketball teams competed in tournaments over the Christmas holiday.

Three of them captured championships — two boys and one girls.

The Pleasant Valley boys defeated Northern Lehigh and Catasauqua to claim the Slatington Rotary title, while the Panther Valley boys topped Jim Thorpe and Marian at the Marian tourney.

Also at Marian, the Fillies earned wins over Jim Thorpe and New Hope-Solebury to capture their championship.