Quakertown senior Griffin Schmidt surpassed the 1,000-point milestone in Monday’s win over Lincoln Leadership Academy.
By Mary Jane Souder
Griffin Schmidt bears no resemblance to the player that stepped onto the court for Quakertown as a rare freshman varsity starter, but one thing hasn’t changed – Schmidt’s uncanny shooting touch.
“He was about 5-9 and about 112 pounds, and he just had that knack even back then,” Quakertown coach Kevin Keeler said. “He would get beat up a lot, but he scored a little bit.”
As a senior, Schmidt – 6-0, 180 pounds – is scoring a whole lot, and the gifted guard needed just four points to reach the 1,000-point milestone entering Monday’s opening round game of the Salisbury Christmas Tournament against Lincoln Leadership Academy.
It took no time at all for Schmidt – who finished with 29 points – to reach the magical plateau.
“I knew it was possible,” he said of reaching the milestone. “I try not to think about it and just play basketball.”
The game was halted, and Schmidt presented the game ball to his mother.
“He scored on a breakaway,” Keeler said. “He had to beat one guy.”
Beating one player is a relatively easy task for Schmidt, who is averaging 24 points a game and routinely attracts a crowd. His eye-popping offensive efforts this season – which included a 43-point effort against Roxborough - are surprising even his coach.
“As a sophomore, he was up around 12 a game and last year he was 15,” Keeler said. “I thought maybe this year he’d be up around 16-18 a game as he progresses.
“He’s going at a 24 per game clip and shooting around 48 percent from the field with teams dogging him. You have to give credit to the kids too for finding him. He has a way of getting his shots up and making things happen for us.”
Schmidt is the seventh Quakertown male athlete to surpass the 1,000-point milestone, the first since Dalton Nice accomplished that feat in 2009. He joins an elite group that includes Nice, Rob Gluck, Harley Moyer, Jack Znotteng, Dave Young and Ed Becker, and Schmidt has an opportunity to finish in the top two in the school’s all-time scoring list. Gluck is at the top with 1,303 career points.
The senior shooting guard boasts the full repertoire of shots – he can drive, he can pull up and shoot the mid-range jumper, and he can burn teams from beyond the arc.
“He’s 42 percent from three, but he has that knack to drive,” Keeler said. “He has that lefty thing going, and he just has this knack to get around people and do that little lefty shot.”
Schmidt didn’t play organized basketball until he was in sixth grade and joined a team at the YMCA.
“I’ve always been playing with my dad,” he said. “I started out playing football and then I just revolved around basketball.
“I’ve always loved basketball. It’s always been my number one sport.”
The four-year varsity starter made a commitment to the weight room at the end of his junior season.
“I’ve been in the weight room all summer, and I put on 25 pounds,” said Schmidt. “I really wanted to be more of a defensive presence, and I think it’s paid off. It’s made a drastic difference.”
“He lives in the weight room – he loves to lift,” Keeler said. “Griffin realized that to reach his full potential and deal with the physical basketball in the Suburban One League that he had to get stronger.
“The lifting along with working on the fundamentals of the game took Griffin to a higher level of playing basketball.”
Although he has not made a college choice, Schmidt, the complete package, plans to continue his career at the next level, but for now, his focus is on his final high school season.
“It’s real special to be in the history books at Quakertown,” Schmidt said. “It means a lot.
“I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for my teammates. They’re the ones that helped me through and helped me get to a thousand points.”
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