As teammates and coaches of Milano’s Jayce Todd celebrated when he made a free throw late in the team’s 74-49 win over Somerville on Nov. 22, his mother Courtney couldn’t quite figure out why they were cheering him on.
When someone after the game informed her and husband James that their son had scored 52 points, the most an Eagle basketball player has ever scored in a game, it a ll began to make sense.
“The funny thing is that I had no idea about the record until after the game,” she said. “Jayce was at the free throw line and the bench started cheering. I was like ‘it’s just a free throw, what’s the big deal?’.”
“The score had just hit 70, so I assumed that was what they were striving to achieve that game,” she continued. “But after the game, a fellow player came up to his Dad and told us Jayce had just broken the school record.”
Going into the game, the MHS senior said he felt a “mixture of nerves and excitement.” Although they took down visiting Iola 55-38 in their season opener the day before, Todd and company were still getting used to life without Layne Telg and Weston Avrett, two starters who played on last year’s regional finalist squad and graduated this past May.
But after tip-off, Todd was immediately on a roll. He scored 11 of his team’s 16 points in the opening quarter and went into halftime with 25.
His hot-streak continued in the third, but he became more motivated when a team manager told him that he was on track to make school history.
“In the third quarter, Shiner Thurman told me that I was at 42 points and close to the school record,” Todd said. “Knowing that the record was within reach, I really started pushing.”
That’s exactly what he did. Which led to that moment at the free throw line late in the fourth quarter, with a bench full of people cheering loudly for him and his parents temporarily confused.
“I have to give credit to my team as well,” he said. “Because they were giving me the ball every chance they could to help me get to 52.”
“That’s what felt the greatest, knowing that my teammates were so selfless and trying to help me,” he added. “They’re my brothers.”
For coach Chris Cerny, who is in his first season of leading the Eagles, coaching the 6’6” guard during this landmark afternoon was quite the experience.
“In the moment, you’re focusing on the team,” Cerny said. “But seeing his motor run high and playing with a level of assertiveness definitely made him stand out.”
“He had a confident demeanor about him and he played hard at every position. That’s why I believe he’s a coach’s dream,” he said. “Colleges will be lucky to have him in their program.”
Todd also said that it feels great to break a record that “has been held for so long, but even better to get the win.”
His point-total breaks the previous record for an Eagle basketball player in a single game, which was held by Aaron Compton. The MHS Class of 2007 grad scored 47 in a home game against Giddings State School during his senior season. Former head coach Alvie King said Compton made nine three-pointers in the first quarter alone.
Todd’s record is the most points to be scored by a boys’ basketball player in a single game and the school record for most points scored in a full-court game.
Rhonda Davenport, an MHS Class of 1967 grad, once scored 61 during her high school career. However, that was when high school girls in the state of Texas played half-court basketball, a faster-paced game in which contests had more scoring.
Girls have played fullcourt basketball since 197879 and current MISD athletic director Wendy King holds the record for most points scored in a full-court game by a Lady Eagle when she dropped 48 in a game during the 1988 season.
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