A nearly packed Baker Gym was about to burst from anticipation.
In the opening minute of the fourth quarter in the Trojans’ game against Effingham Friday night, senior guard Tyler Oakley drove down the left side of the court and slammed on the brakes before spinning to his left and passing to senior guard Hudson Meister.
Meister dribbled to the right and then turned around to find Oakley on the left wing.
Oakley caught Meister’s pass in front of the home student section and let a three-pointer fly.
He didn’t know it at the time, but Oakley was two points away from breaking a Charleston High School record.
The ripple of a net hanging below a burnt-orange rim was a sight Oakley had seen thousands of times in practices and games.
This time though, it was confirmation of the history-making moment that every screaming fan inside Baker Gym was celebrating.
Oakley was now the Charleston High School all-time leading scorer.
“It’ll be something that I’ll have to cherish forever,” Oakley said. “Just thankful for all my teammates, and glory to God for getting me this opportunity that I can be in.”
Oakley broke the record, which was held by Derrick Landrus and stood for 35 years, with a 24-point performance in a 53-46 Apollo Conference loss to Effingham.
The game went on like normal for another minute before a stoppage of play allowed Oakley to be serenaded with a standing ovation as he posed for a photo with head coach Colin McInerney to his left and athletic director Brian Deadmond to his right.
After the game, Oakley spoke with the Charleston radio broadcast while the student section waited eagerly to celebrate and take pictures with him.
Oakley stated it was the best moment of his life.
“There’s no other moment that’ll be above it,” he said.
McInerney and Deadmond both said that the broken record is a testament to Oakley’s hard work throughout his high school career.
“It’s four years of the most work I’ve ever seen. I think he’s missed one open gym ever, and it’s because he was playing in a basketball camp,” McInerney said. “So, he missed our basketball to go play more basketball.”
Deadmond couldn’t recall the number of times last season where he’d arrive at the gym before dawn for a practice and see Oakley already there taking shots, or late at night when Oakley would still be shooting around long after the end of team practice.
“We’ve got little guys that are waiting to take pictures with him down here. That’s why they’re still here, because they look up to him,” Deadmond said. “He’s become a role model here at Charleston High School, and he’s the kid that you want your kid to grow up to be like.”
The Trojans (4-20, 0-6) trailed at halftime 26-17 thanks to a 13-2 run for the Flaming Hearts (9-14, 3-3) in the first 4:38 of the second quarter. Oakley stopped the run with a three-pointer from the left wing, putting his scoring mark going into halftime at 10 points.
Charleston outscored Effingham 14-12 in the third quarter and got the feeling of the crowd fully back into the game when Oakley converted a three-point play with 2:26 remaining in the third quarter. Oakley spun to his right, drove down the lane and rolled a layup off his right hand while drawing the foul.
Charleston then made it a 34-31 game with 1:23 remaining in the third after senior guard Rohan Walters knocked down a three from the right wing. A Charleston timeout followed, and the Flaming hearts closed the quarter out on a 4-0 run.
“Before the game, we were talking about how it’s got to be a low scoring game,” McInerney said. “We knew we couldn’t give up turnovers, and we couldn’t get beat in transition.”
Though the game featured four ties and three lead changes, Effingham never surrendered the lead after ending the first quarter leading 11-10.
Oakley still has seven games remaining in his final regular season, as well as at least one postseason game, to add onto the record.
Despite breaking a record that stood since 1991, Oakley hopes that it’s broken by someone else in the near future.
“I want this [record] beaten because that’s another kid who’s successful in his life,” Oakley said. “Records are meant to be broken. I broke Derrick’s [Landrus] record and someone is going to eventually beat my record.”
Charleston’s next game is on the road against Taylorville. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m.
Gabe Newman can be reached at 581-2812 or at [email protected].
