For Bryson Scott, his record-setting performance had its origin a day earlier.
Last Friday, the Northrop junior guard scored a school-record 46 points in a 90-69 home win over Wayne, breaking Walter Jordan’s 1974 mark of 37 points.
Twenty-four hours prior, Scott had what Northrop coach Barak Coolman called “Bryson’s best practice he has ever had.”
“It showed up on the court,” the fourth-year coach said Tuesday of Scott carrying his Thursday practice over to his Friday performance. “Bryson obviously had the scoring record and was able to put the ball in the basket fairly easily. I always talk that you play the way you practice. It wasn’t a shock to me.”
The 6-foot-2 Purdue recruit hit 16 of 26 (62 percent) from the field and 12 of 16 (75 percent) from the free-throw line against the Generals in the SAC opener.
“It was a strange feeling, but it felt good to me,” Scott said. “When I came out, I wasn’t so hot and had a couple of turnovers, but my teammates told me to stay up. When they are with me, they keep energized. When I was in my zone, they stayed with me.”
With a minute and a half remaining, Scott cooled off his hot hand by going to the bench as the Class 4A No. 10 Bruins (4-0) were in control.
“I would have liked to get 50,” Scott said. “I wanted to ask my coach to stay in, but I had to come out and let my teammates get some playing time so they can grow as a varsity player.”
Taking Scott out of the game was a matter of getting some of the bench players into the game but also protecting Northrop’s star player from injury.
“I thought he had his chance to get 50,” Coolman said. “At that point, you start to think about his best interest. You want to protect him, but you also want to respect your opponent. We are not trying to run up the score.”
Scott raised his scoring average from 19 to 26 points per game, but the most important statistic for Scott ended up being his 13 rebounds – eight of which were offensive rebounds.
“I knew sometimes I was going to miss because they had their hands up, but I just went after the boards and put it back in,” Scott said. “I just stayed with it.”
It was exactly what his coach had in mind.
“Bryson wasn’t shooting for a record,” Coolman said. “He didn’t force it, and he let it come to him. He missed 10 shots, but none of them were bad shots. What allowed him to get the extra 10 points (from Jordan’s record) was those eight offensive rebounds. That’s something we have been talking to him about a lot, using his athleticism.”
As far as getting another chance at breaking his own record and maybe even getting to 50 points, Coolman thinks Scott would have a chance in the future – or someone who looks a lot like Scott.
“It wouldn’t shock me if he broke his own record, but it has to be the right time and place,” Coolman said. “I am not out to break records when it comes to individuals. But I could see an SAC game that comes down to the wire, and it is a 93-90 game. I could see it through the course of a game like that. Could he do it again? Yes. But I also wouldn’t be shocked if Brenton (Scott, his twin brother) did it.”
More than likely, Coolman sees Bryson Scott getting a chance at the school record of 13 assists in a game.
