MHS Senior is 7th 1,000 point scorer In MHS basketball history

By Chris Villani

Andrew Rivera had no idea exactly how far away he was from history. The Milford High senior saw a school resource officer the day of a recent game against Franklin and was asked how many points he needed to set the school’s all-time basketball scoring record.

“I told him ‘I don’t even know,’” Rivera said.

Later that day, the officer told him he was only three points away from breaking the 23-year-old record. A few hours after that, Rivera caught a pass off a high ball screen, spun to the middle of the court, faded away, and knocked down a jump shot to give him 1,185 points.

Despite being on the road, Franklin’s coaching staff had been made aware of Rivera’s proximity to the record, and the game was stopped so that he could get the game ball and pose for a quick photo with his parents, Pamela and Jorge.

“It was really cool,” Rivera said of the moment. “It was great to have a lot of people there who have been by my side.”

Despite a successful basketball program over the years, Milford’s list of 1,000-point scorers in basketball is relatively small. Ernie Kapatoes became the first player to surpass that barrier in 1982. Craig Radcliffe set the new program record by a point in 1988. Rivera, who scored his 1,000th point during a home game earlier this season, became the all-time leading scorer in boys’ basketball when he topped Radcliffe’s 1,071-point total. He then surpassed Kate Irwin’s 1,077 point mark and then, finally, bested the record set by Macchi, who did not play during her senior year. Trevor Walker and Tyler Washington are Milford’s only other 1,000-point scorers.

Rivera said he has seen Macchi, a graduate of the class of 2003, at events and kidded her about his nearing of her record.

“I have been poking at it a little bit, telling her I was going to break her record,” he said. “She said ‘Yeah, but I did it in three years,’ and I said ‘Okay, I got to give it to her.’’

Rivera said he was pleased to reach the 1,000-point mark at home, especially since that was what his mother had hoped would happen.

“My mom was big on my being acknowledged for my accomplishments,” he said. “Having my classmates there to see it at home was cool.”

Rivera is averaging more than 18 points per game this season after scoring around 19 per game last year. He is more focused on the team’s success heading towards the playoffs. A dual-sport athlete, Rivera said he is hoping to eventually play either football or basketball at the collegiate level.

And how many points is he up to now? “I have no idea,” Rivera said.