CHS junior Avery Mintz scored the 1,000th point of her high school career during a game against Highlands on Tuesday, Jan. 8.
She has been playing basketball since she was five years old. Her father, Chris Mintz, coach of the Lady Braves, has been coaching Avery since the eighth grade. She usually plays power forward or center, but she is versatile and willing to play where she is needed.
Avery Mintz (center) scored her 1,000th point as a Lady Brave on Jan. 8. Shown (left-right) are CCS Superintendent Walt Swan; Craig Barker, assistant principal and athletic director; Mintz; Keila Mintz, Avery’s mother; and Coach Chris Mintz, Avery’s father and coach of the Lady Braves. (CCS photo)
Before the Christmas holidays, someone asked Coach Mintz how close Avery was to hitting the mark. After checking, she was fifty points short just before the Holiday on the Hardwoods Tournament hosted at Cherokee High School over Christmas break. She was injured during the tournament, but she came back and scored 27 in the next game of the tournament.
At the open of Tuesday night’s game against Highlands, she only needed four points to hit the 1,000-point mark. With each attempt and dribble of the basketball, spectators waited in anticipation. Her teammates were also supportive in providing opportunities to get her the ball.
First, one basket…score.
Then, an attempt and miss.
Then it happened, swish; and it was in. She had done it, 1,000 points!
The game paused to celebrate this momentous occasion. Her family and CHS school administration including Superintendent Walt Swan and Craig Barker, assistant principal and athletic director, joined her at center court for the presentation of the game ball and a plaque. The crowd cheered and cameras flashed. Then, it was back to the game. The Lady Braves never missed a beat.
Proud parents said, “Avery is a hard-working kid. Nothing is really given to her. Anything she gets she works hard for it. That is really what makes me so proud of her.”
Avery commented after the game, “I was so excited to score my 1,000 point!”
She was asked if she had chosen a school to continue her basketball career. “Not yet, but we have looked at Western Carolina University; and they are looking at me.”
– Cherokee Central Schools
