By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Publisher LINWOOD – Every high school basketball player dreams of scoring 1,000 career points and having his name put up on the banner in his respective school’s gymnasium. Sharpshooters want that moment to come as they drain a long 3-pointer, backpedalling as the ball swishes through the net and raising their arms to adoring fans in the student section as they glide back on defense. Big men want to reach that plateau on a vicious slam dunk that puts the home crowd in a frenzy. 
Mainland Regional senior Darius Jerkins scored his 1,000th career point on a slam dunk during the Mustangs’ win over Lower Cape May Regional. (Glory Days Magazine photo/Dave O’Sullivan) Darius Jenkins swears he didn’t miss that free throw on purpose. Jenkins, a 6-foot-5 senior forward at Mainland Regional High School, had a chance to reach 1,000 career points when he stepped to the free-throw line early in the third quarter of Friday night’s 56-17 blowout win over visiting Lower Cape May Regional. He had a pair of free throws coming and was sitting on 998 points. His first attempt rimmed out before he calmly sank the second free throw. Minutes later the golden moment of his high school career came in a way much more fitting a big man. Off a break he took a pass and jammed home a slam dunk, much to the delight of the Mustangs student section. He was removed from the game shortly after, as the score was well in favor of Mainland, finishing with 11 points for the game and 1,001 for his career. “It’s a great feeling. It’s one of the top things in high school to accomplish. It’s a proud moment for me and my family,” Jerkins said. As for that free throw? He chalked up the miss to nerves. “Those free throws are kind of hard, under pressure, knowing it was my 1,000th point,” Jerkins said. “It worked out, though. As long as I got it, that’s all that mattered to me.” Still, the powerful forward with the fade haircut and shy smile admitted it was nice to get that dunk. “I was like, ‘yes, I finally got it!'” Jerkins said about what was going through his mind as he leaped up for the two-handed jam. “I was wide open, it was an easy dunk. You can’t ask for better.” Jerkins said he really didn’t think about the milestone until this week, when he realized he was closing in on the mark. “Everybody noticed I was getting close. I kind of expected it, we all knew it was coming,” Jerkins said. “It feels good. It’s a proud moment in my high school career.” Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays
Mainland’s Jerkins reaches 1,000 career points on slam dunk
