Jacob Iati has been chasing milestones all season.
He's tallied his 2,000th career point, set a career scoring record at York Catholic and became the boys' career scoring leader in the YAIAA.
Still, there is one name above Iati's on the area boys' high school career scoring list. And despite setting the boys' record, Iati still has some work to do if he wants to top the all-time boys list or even become the undisputed YAIAA scoring leader.
Franks Hawkins Jr. and Lauren Beckley stand in his way.
Catching Beckley shouldn't be too difficult. Iati currently has 2,237 points, which puts him only 21 points behind the former Fairfield girls' star. The 5-foot-10 York Catholic point guard is averaging 21.45 points per game this season, making it likely he'll at least catch Beckley tonight when the Fighting Irish play at York Suburban.
Getting past Hawkins Jr. will be much more difficult for the High Point bound scorer.
Hawkins Jr., who played for tiny Red Lion Christian and did not face YAIAA competition, tallied 2,573 points in his career, which wrapped up in 1995. While Hawkins Jr. didn't have to face teams like William Penn, Dallastown, Delone Catholic and Eastern York like Iati, he also never had the kind of coaching and teammates that helped Iati along the way. So it seems like it all comes close to evening out, even if reasonable people can still disagree about the merits of Hawkins Jr.'s inclusion on the list.
It is worthwhile to note that 194 of Hawkins Jr.'s points came during his seventh and eighth grade years. So that essentially leaves two more hurdles for Iati to clear: Hawkins' four-year total and his career total.
His chances all depend on how well the Irish can do in the playoffs.
York Catholic will play anywhere between 4-13 games the rest of the season: two more regular season games, 1-3 league tournament games, 1-4 District 3 tournament games and 0-4 PIAA Class AA tournament games.
Even if the Irish advance to the state title game and play all 13 contests, Iati will have to up his average to 25.84 points per game to tie the Hawkins Jr. career total. If they play only 12, Iati will have to score 28 per game. Eleven games will require a 30.55 output from Iati.
The four-year total is a more realistic goal for Iati to shoot for. He will only need seven more games if he keeps up his current scoring pace to top Hawkins Jr.'s 2,379 points scored between ninth and 12th grade. Eight games, and Iati will likely crack 2,400.
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