Chartiers Valley's Brayden Reynolds surpasses 1,000 points

SOURCE: Chartiers Valley Basketball, @CharValleyHoops

Superman is known for wearing a red and blue outfit and is considered powerful and a superhero. At Chartiers Valley, they have a superman type figure as well. Except, their superhero plays basketball and is powerful on the court.

Their superhero is senior Brayden Reynolds.

Brayden might not be as popular around the world compared to Superman, but he is very popular at Chartiers Valley as he also wears red and blue outfit or in this case, a uniform, when he is on the basketball court.

The star Chartiers Valley Boys basketball player in Reynolds was six points shy of 1,000 career points entering Wednesday's night game against Lincoln Park. He scored 31 points the night before in a section contest on the road at West Allegheny.

With the Colts entering Wednesday's night game with a 4-0 record, you already know that they wanted to improve to 5-0 and keep their undefeated record alive.

Reynolds would score 34 points against Lincoln Park and he even scored the game-winning basket in overtime to help his Colts win the game by a score of 64-62 and improve to 5-0. This is the first time the Colts Boys basketball team had a 5-0 record since the 2016-17 season. What's even more impressive all the five of the Colts wins is that they are all road wins.

"I think we are all shooting the ball at a high percentage. Most of the guys that have been playing in the game, I’ve been playing with since we were younger, so we have good chemistry and we always got one another’s back," said Reynolds, who has been starting on the basketball team since his freshman year. "The expectations of this team is to go win a WPIAL title because we haven’t hung a banner in several years and I feel like it’s time we hang one up!"

People can look at the teams that the Colts have beaten so far, and it is impressive who have they defeated in Penn Hills, Bishop Canevin, Fox Chapel, West Allegheny, and Lincoln Park.

There is no question that Reynolds was trying to surpass 1,000 points in the team's game the night before against West Allegheny but you could say that God had bigger plans for Reynolds as not only did he surpass 1,000 points but scoring the game-winning basket in overtime just showed that Wednesday was his night. Yes, basketball is a team game, but this game would be considered, "The Brayden Reynolds game." All the attention was on him and his teammates were definitely aware of it as well as they support their team captain.

This video shows Reynolds scoring his 1,000th point against Lincoln Park on Jan.13, 2021.

Source: SWNGMN Media

"It felt so great [surpassing 1,000 points], one of the best feelings in the world. Knowing that all your hard work is finally paying off and accomplishing milestones, there is just no better feeling", said Reynolds, who is averaging 31.4 points per game. "Overall, it was just a very memorable night for me and my teammates. It was a big win and I made a big shot. All my life, I’ve been in that moment and on top of it all, it was the best feeling. What gives me confidence is that my teammates and coaches know they can rely on me to go get them a bucket!"

Chartiers Valley played one game before Gov. Wolf decided to delay high school sports for four weeks in the state of Pennsylvania, and it was against Penn Hills when Reynolds scored 23 points. During the four-week shutdown, Reynolds focused on improving in his explosiveness, strength, as well as staying in shape. He has scored 30+ points in four consecutive games now.

You have to wonder though, besides watching tape, and getting in shape, what has Reynolds done to start off so hot?

"I think it has to do with me working on my craft all this off-season. My guy CK4 [Christian Kezmarsky] has been working with me since sophomore year, and all of it is starting to show! Most importantly my teammates this year have done a great job with hitting me when I’m open and having confidence in me once again to score in crunch time," said Reynolds.

Chartiers Valley will play again tomorrow against Moon and will travel to North Allegheny on Saturday. With the Colts playing four games in five days, and six games in nine days, you would say that the Colts are doing a good job scheduling games and staying healthy, so they are not forced to postpone games.

"We just try to take things on our team day-to-day and Coach Sensor says it best. “You got to want to win every day no matter if it’s a game or practice”. So, when we do have a game, we are always ready," said Reynolds.

Reynolds is currently 6'3" and people who don't know Reynolds might think he has always been tall but that was not the case. He was 5'4" as a freshman in 2017 and the way that he has been growing in recent years has made him more of a dominant player and he is taking advantage of the height that he is.

"My ability to finish at the rim is something I have improved since my freshman year. When I was a freshman, I wasn’t really a guy that could go and finish with one dude on him but now I have the capability to go score on multiple dudes and be crafty around the rim. My body frame has really come a long way; I started off as a freshman at 5'4" and I was skinny as a pole. But now, I’m 6'3" and have fully filled out my body which is the main reason why I think I am able to finish at the rim better," he said.

Reynolds know that his team still has more work to do as they want to see how long they can still be undefeated for and that thought is something that can drive this whole Colts team. For Reynolds, he knows that he has the right coach, in Coach Brandon Sensor, that can push the Colts to their limits and challenge them because their schedule will continue to be competitive as the season progresses.

"Coach Sensor has had a big impact on me throughout high school and how I approach the game," said Reynolds. "He has taught me that you don’t need to enforce your will on the game because eventually opportunity comes for you in the game, for me luckily, more often than not lately. Also, he has worked with me on my motor and always having it high as well as not taking plays off. I love Coach Sensor for everything he does, I have the utmost respect for him as he does for me and that’s why me and him click so well."

Brentaro Yamane: bkyamane@gmail.com and Twitter/Instagram @BYHilton13