SACS falls to Fort Fairfield
DYER BROOK, Maine — The plaque on the wall of Southern Aroostook Community School’s gymnasium honoring Warriors who have scored 1,000 career points in basketball has two new names to add to the list.
Two weeks after teammate Jackson Mathers scored his 1,000th point, Southern Aroostook junior Nolan Altvater joined the prestigious club Thursday evening. Altvater scored his historic point in a hard-fought, 66-61, loss to Fort Fairfield the same way he has scored the bulk of the points in his career — on a post move from inside the low post.
Altvater needed 23 points coming into the game, and finished with a game-high 29 in the loss.
“I knew coming in how many points I needed, but I didn’t really know how many I had when it happened,” Altvater said. “I had two or three guys on me the whole game, but I tried my best to keep my head and fight through it.”
Altvater said he really wanted to accomplish the special feat on the Warriors home court, as a nod to the fans who have been so supportive of the team year after year.
“I would have liked it to come with a win though,” he added.
SACS coach Bill McAvoy praised Altvater after the game.
“Nolan is so tough inside, and his outside game has improved a lot,” McAvoy said. “Nothing came easy for him tonight. He had to work hard for this.”
McAvoy said he was so pleased that Altvater was able to reach the scoring mark in front of the hometown crowd.
“He has been through so much this year personally, that this was good,” he said.
Altvater got his start in basketball in peewee leagues, beginning in second grade with Mathers and Tyler Batchelder, another junior on the squad.
“We’ve played together all the way through and it’s just been a great experience,” he said.
Altvater said neither he, nor Mathers, expected to reach the scoring milestone this year. But now that they have surpassed that mark, both agree they can now focus on the bigger prize of bringing a gold ball to Dyer Brook.
“Nothing would feel better than to win a state championship,” he said.
Altvater’s older sister Sable scored her 1,000th career point as a senior back in 2014.
Other 1,000-point scorers for the school include: Jay Bedwell (1984), Jon Prescott (1985), Jay Burpee (1991), Bill Mathers (1991), Ricki Shields (1992), Brett Russell (1992), Jill Mathers (1994), Jessica Walker (1994), Jody Brown (1995), Janna Walker (1997), Sam Michaud (1999), Nate Hardy (2000), Jordan Shields (2001), Kristi Brooker (2002), Corey Shields (2003), Audrey Charette (2006) and Dakota Sleeper (2010).
