When the 2022-23 season began Carter Vandall was on the outside looking in at the 1,000 point scorers in the history of New Philadelphia High School boys basketball.
Vandall not only became the latest member the 1,000-point club, but vaulted into the No. 3 scoring spot all-time by the time his Quaker career ended last Wednesday night in the Division II District Semifinal against John Glenn.
The 6-foot-5 senior power forward is the 10th Quaker to achieve 1,000 career points in the 110-year history of the program by scoring 17 points in a 60-55 Quaker win over Ashland back on Jan. 20.
"Given the opportunity to start on varsity as a freshmen allowed me to set a realistic goal of scoring 1,000 points," said Vandall, a son of Bruce and Polly Vandall. "Fortunately, I was able to hit this goal about half way through my senior year. I scored it on a driving layup vs Ashland and it was a night I’ll remember forever."
It was onward and upward after that.
Vandall, recently named the Co-East District Player of the Year in Division II and Ohio Cardinal Conference Player of the Year, finished third with 1,231 points as he averaged 16 points per game with 8 rebounds and 4 assists this past season.
Only Steve Shade and Dave Leggett have better scoring numbers in the program's long and storied history.
"Not only was I able to hit this goal, but I was also fortunate enough to end up with over 1,200 points by the end of my career," said Vandall.
Shade is the all-time leading scorer at New Philadelphia with 1,376 points after the 1981 campaign, while Leggett is second with 1,320 after the 1951 season.
Vince Miccichi (4th, 1,118, 1985), Marco Colombo (5th, 1,102, 2016) and Jerry Smith (6th, 1,062, 1962), Merle Clum (7th, 1,030), Ethan Boose (8th, 1,026), Nate Voll (9th, 1,026) and Jeremiah Harding (10th, 1,002) have also cracked the top 10 in the history of New Philadelphia scoring.
"I feel that I was able to accomplish this goal by simply coming to work every day and doing the best at whatever I was asked to do," said Vandall. "It is an honor to be listed as 3rd highest scorer in New Philadelphia school history amongst many of the other great players that have played here. To date, I would say that placing third on that list is my greatest accomplishment."
New Philadelphia ended up 18-6 overall and shared the Ohio Cardinal Conference championship with Lexington with a 12-2 ledger under first year head coach Zach Ross.
Now that his basketball season is over Vandall can now turn his attention to preparing for baseball season as he is a star pitcher for the Quakers.
Phone: 330-343-8615
Address: 525 West High Avenue, Suite 160, New Philadelphia
Email: cjones1973@roadrunner.com
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