Barrish hits1,000 milestone in Mikes’ win over J-M
Carmichaels players, coaches, fans and cheerleaders celebrate with a banner honoring Chris Barrish (second row, middle) for scoring his 1,000th career point Wednesday night in a 69-37 win over Jefferson-Morgan. (Photo by Rob Burchianti)
The Mikes’ Chris Barrish scores on a drive to the basket despite the defensive efforts of Jefferson-Morgan’s Colt Fowler during Wednesday night’s game at Carmichaels. Barrish scored 25 points, including the 1,000th of his career, in the Mikes’ 69-37 win. (Photo by Rob Burchianti)
Rob Burchianti | Herald-Standard
The Mikes’ Dylan Rohrer calmly sinks a 3-pointer against Jefferson-Morgan during Wednesday night’s game at Carmichaels. Rohrer scored 15 points in the Mikes’ 69-37 victory.
Rob Burchianti | Herald-Standard
Jefferson-Morgan’s Tahjere Jacobs shoots a 3-pointer as the Mikes’ Drake Long (10) defends during Wednesday night’s game at Carmichaels.
The Mikes' Michael Stewart (24) drives to the basket against Jefferson-Morgan during Wednesday night's game at Carmichaels.
Rob Burchianti | Herald-Standard
Mikes head coach Ian McCombs draws up a play during a timeout in Wednesday night’s game against Jefferson-Morgan at Carmichaels.
The Mikes' Dylan Rohrer (20) scores despite being fouled by Jefferson-Morgan's Joshua Wise during Wednesday night's game at Carmichaels. Rohrer, who made the impending free throw to complete a three-point play, scored 15 points in the Mikes' 69-37 win.
Jefferson-Morgan's Troy Wright takes a jump shot during Wednesday night's game at Carmichaels.
Mikes coach Ian McCombs shouts instructions to his players during Wednesday night's game against Jefferson-Morgan at Carmichaels.
Jefferson-Morgan coach Brandon Lawless watches the action during Wednesday night's game at Carmichaels.
The Mikes' Chris Barrish makes a layup on a fast break against Jefferson-Morgan during Wednesday night's game at Carmichaels. Barrish scored 25 points, including the 1,000th of his career, in the Mikes' 69-37 win.
CARMICHAELS — Chris Barrish felt like the weight of the world was on him as he took the floor for Wednesday night’s boys basketball game.
The Carmichaels senior was 24 points shy of 1,000 for his career and his team badly needed a home victory over rival Jefferson-Morgan to stay the race for the Section 4-AA title.
“I told the team I don’t really care if I get to 1,000 tonight, I want to get the win,” Barrish said. “That’s what’s very important to me. What I want at the end of the season is another number on that (section championship) banner here.”
The ending turned out well for Barrish and the Mikes. The talented point guard pumped in a game-high 25 points to give him a total of 1,001 and Carmichaels pulled away in the second half for a 69-37 victory.
“The focus is always win first but it was special that he was able to get his 1,000th here at home in front of all his family and friends and his classmates,” Carmichaels coach Ian McCombs said.
The win pulls Carmichaels (3-1, 8-3) into a second-place tie with the Rockets (3-1, 7-2), one game behind Monessen, which beat the visiting Mikes, 65-59, on Friday night.
Barrish tried to focus on the team goal first but admitted he couldn’t put the milestone out of his mind, especially with a big crowd on hand. He only scored five points in the first half although the Mikes still held a 22-17 advantage.
“At halftime, I’ll be honest, it crept into my head, ‘Oh my gosh, if all these people came to see me and I don’t get it … I’ve got to go out there and play better, not only for them but for the team.’
“I felt like I picked it up in the second half and then once we had control I could focus on it (1,000 points). The weight’s off my shoulders now.”
Barrish got his final five points in his typical fashion in the fourth quarter. He hit a long 3-pointer and then scored on a slicing drive to the basket through traffic, two signature plays in his repertoire.
The game was stopped to allow Barrish and his team briefly celebrate the milestone and then Rockets coach Brandon Lawless, who is a Carmichaels graduate, asked for a timeout in a classy move.
“I thought I’d let them enjoy the moment a little longer and have a talk with my players,” Lawless said. “I told our guys this is one game, it doesn’t define our season. We still have another game against them and two against Monessen.
“Our goals are to make the playoffs and win a section championship. Losing tonight was a setback for us but, all in all, we’re still where we want to be.”
Lawless, who was also a 1,000-point scorer for the Mikes, remembers his special moment and commended Barrish.
“Mine was on a layup against Monessen right at this basket,” Lawless said, pointing up. “Unfortunately, we didn’t win that game.
“He should enjoy it. That’s a heck of an achievement. I’ve watched him over the past few years. He’s developed his skillset over time and become a very good basketball player.”
Another former Carmichaels great, second all-time leading scorer Justin Voithofer, who played on the Mikes’ 1996 team that reached the PIAA Elite Eight, was on hand to congratulate Barrish.
“It was awesome,” Barrish said. “He came up to me and said if we didn’t have that COVID year I’d probably be at 1,4000.
“That’s someone everyone else talks about at Carmichaels as being one of the best players. The fact that he came up to me, that means a lot.”
Jefferson-Morgan slowed the pace in the first half but despite limiting Barrish to five still found itself down 14-8 after the first quarter and by five at the half.
“We had some other guys, like Shawn Rohrer, hit a lot of big shots to keep us in the lead,” McCombs said. Rohrer had 12 points in the first half.
Even so Lawless was pleased with his team’s early effort.
“We tried to slow them down and keep Barrish in check which I thought we did a good job of,” said Lawless, whose team had its seven-game winning streak snapped. “I thought we were sitting good. All around defensively we were pretty solid. We just couldn’t get shots to fall and unfortunately that continued in the second half. The lid just never came off the hoop.”
McCombs urged his players to push the ball more in the second half.
“I told them we have to try to open up the court a little bit more, get the pace going a little bit and get guys in the open court and let them make plays,” McCombs said.
Barrish and the Mikes heated up in the second half and opened the third quarter with a 12-4 run to go up 34-21. The Rockets fought back to within nine but a three-point play by Drake Long and six points by Barrish keyed a closing 9-2 burst to give Carmichaels a 45-29 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
The Mikes pulled away from there, leaving Barrish’s quest for 1,000 as the only remaining drama. The milestone basket gave Carmichaels a 62-34 lead.
“I’m just glad it’s over with,” Barrish said. “I played horrible in my opinion, at least in the first half. In the back of my head I couldn’t not think about it. It was cool but I’m happy it’s out of the way.”
Rohrer made four 3-pointers in scoring 15 points for the Mikes and Long followed with 13 points. Michael Stewart added nine points.
J-M’s lone double-digit scorer was Colt Fowler with 11 points. Joshua Wise and Kijuan Paige had six points each and Tahjere Jacobs, in a rare off night, tallied just five points, as did Preston Wood.
“It’s a huge win,” McCombs said. “Our No. 1 goal is we want to win this section. We know we’ve got to beat Monessen whenever we meet them here and beat Jefferson twice. This was a step in the right direction.”
McCombs lauded Barrish.
“All the hard work and effort that the kid puts in that nobody sees is why he’s able to reach this accomplishment,” McCombs said. “When nobody is looking, when no fans are here, he always wants to be in the gym. He calls me up and drags me in here. He’s been working towards this milestone and this team’s goals for years and years now. I can’t say enough about his dedication.
“He’s an outstanding player.”