Mayfield reaches 1,000 in Burlington Central's win over Antioch

Burlington Central's Patrick Mayfield and his teammates were able to celebrate twice Friday night.

The first celebration came as Mayfield (31 points, 7 rebounds) sank the second of two free throws with 1:39 remaining in the third quarter to give him 1,000 points for his career. The second celebration came as the clock ran out of time with the Rockets winning 64-52 over Antioch.

"I wasn't really thinking about it too much to be honest with you," Mayfield said. "I was just going into it with a normal game mindset and to win the game. I've come a long way. Freshman year I didn't even play one varsity game. I think hard work and confidence paid off. You can work hard, but you need confidence to be a great player and vice versa too."

Rockets coach Brett Porto credited Mayfield's hard work and dedication to his scoring achievement.

"It was real nice that Patrick (Mayfield) was able to get that on his home court," Porto said. "It's a great memory that Patrick, his family, and our fans will have. Anytime a player gets a milestone like that, especially 1,000 points for a high school basketball player, there's a lot of hard work and dedication that goes into it. Hopefully, our players see this and how much time he puts in and it's another example of hard work paying off."

Antioch (7-3) held Mayfield to 9 first half points but still trailed 22-21 at the half. Junior Gavin Eldridge got the Sequoits started in the second half with a quick 5 points to take the lead. The game continued to bounce back and forth, but Burlington Central (7-3) bounced back and tied the game 33-33 and took the lead on Mayfield's three-foot jumper and his subsequent 1,000-point free throw.

Mayfield said there were multiple factors that led to his 22-point second half. Getting shoes that were worked in more was a start, but he also said the switch to have him bring the ball up court also opened up the offense for the Rockets.

"I switched shoes, actually," Mayfield said. "I haven't worn those shoes before, so I was trying to break them in, but I switched shoes at halftime to my old shoes, and it was better after that. It helps our offense more when I'm cutting and not just standing on the rim. You can't really take anything away from me. If you play up on me I'll drive and you'll foul me or if you start playing back, I'll shoot it over you."

The game continued going back and forth with no team leading by more than three points. Late in the fourth quarter, Sequoits leading scorer Daniel Filippone (23 points) made a reverse layup to put them back on top 52-50, but that's the last score Antioch would make on the night, as Mayfield and his teammates went on a 13-0 run for the win.

"I thought we really started moving better (in the second half) off the ball," Porto said. "Our screen game was better, we were attacking on reversals, and when they did send the double team we were finding the open guy and making them pay a little bit."

Antioch head coach Jim White indicated that his team was well aware that Mayfield was looking to notch 1,000 points, but in the end, Mayfield proved just too difficult to stop.

"They're a great team and we knew what we were running into," White said. "It was a great matchup and we knew what Mayfield had going on tonight as well, so it was great motivation for us too. There's not much he can't do out there on the court. Three and a half quarters it was a battle and we stuck to the game plan for the most part. We wanted to throw more bodies at 24 (Mayfield), and it worked a little, but every time we did, it also hurt us. If you don't score against them, it's hard to hold them underneath their average for sure."