Forest Lake boys basketball star shooter Owen Waldoch had a monumental career night on Wednesday, Feb. 21. In a home Suburban East Conference matchup versus East Ridge, the senior accomplished a rare and renowned feat: becoming the all-time leading scorer in the history of Forest Lake basketball.
The center hit his 1,447th point at roughly the seven-minute mark of the second half on his 21st point of the game, breaking the Ranger career record of 1,446. By the end of the night, his career total hit 1,452, with at least three games remaining in the 2023-24 season.
“I think he was aware,” head coach Kyle McDonald said on whether Waldoch knew the mark was within reach. “I remember him telling me probably about a month back that he was about 200 [points] away. I’m sure he knew he was close, but maybe not fully aware of the specific total. He still knew, however, that he was just nearly to the all-time record here at Forest Lake.”
The game plan wasn’t altered to try to help Waldoch capture the new record, McDonald said.
“Of course every game we are trying to give him his looks and get him the basketball because of what he can do offensively. But it wasn’t necessarily about having him put up as many shots as he could,” McDonald said.
McDonald said it’s been “special” to coach Waldoch and to ultimately be a part of his record-breaking night.
“I’ve been around some good players, not only in my career as a coach, but also as a player, myself. Honestly, I think Owen is the best all-around player and person together that I’ve been around,” McDonald stated. “His work ethic is incredible; he’s always one of the first [people] in the gym, the first one to get extra shots up and he’s in the weight room like crazy. He’s just the staple of what a Ranger basketball player is. I know a lot of the younger guys at the fourth, fifth and sixth grade levels are looking up to No. 0 for the right reasons. He’s an absolute pillar of our success here and I am very proud of him. I love that I’ve been his coach now for three seasons.”
Waldoch, a Concordia-St. Paul commit, has had a number of stellar performances throughout the season as a crucial piece to Forest Lake’s season. Averaging nearly 21 points per game, Waldoch has recorded a total of at least nine 20-point games this season, while also tallying a season high scoring output of 36 points vs. Stillwater on Feb. 1. The Ranger icon, who posted 26 points on his special night, had put on an impressive stretch of basketball from Jan. 30 to Feb. 21, having a seven-game slate of at least 20 points in just under a month of game action.
Section-ready
In another home SEC matchup against Park of Cottage Grove on Friday, Feb. 23, Forest Lake owned a 24-21 lead at halftime before being outscored 42-33 in the second half. The Rangers dropped its second straight game by a final score of 63-57.
“We played pretty well defensively. It was an overtime game and we gave up 53 points within regulation. It was more of a thing where we have to get better offensively,” McDonald said. “We have to get better at our turnovers and taking care of the basketball. It led to easy Park points and that of course shortened our lead, and unfortunately we couldn’t close it out in overtime. Moving forward, we must knock down our shots and I think we will – it was just one of those ‘off’ nights offensively.”
The Rangers suffered a close loss to Blaine on the road on Monday, Feb. 26, with a final score of 67-70.
The Rangers will host their final game of the year at home on Thursday, Feb. 29, in a rematch versus Cretin-Derham Hall.
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