Student sections like to let you know when a young underclassmen has made an impact on a game. Often times, when a sophomore or freshman hits a 3-pointer or makes a big play in a game, the crowd will start a chant to let you know – "he's a sophomore". However, with Dominick Welch at Cheektowaga, it would be the most redundant in the history of chants. Every night he laces them up for the Warriors, he fills up the rim and is more often than not, the game-high scorer. And you can always count on something sensational out of the young star with his above-the-rim style.
Welch scored a team-high 25 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, blocked eight shots, and threw down three highlight dunks in Cheektowaga's 60-53 win over East, on his way to eclipsing the 1,000 point total for his career…in just his sophomore season.
After piling up 15 first half points, that included the #BOOM of the season – a coast-to-coast, full speed, in transition, in traffic, poster dunk – Welch was just four points shy of the 1,000 mark. Just past the midway point of the third quarter, he reached the century mark from the charity stripe, on a pair of tosses that never touched the rim. The game stopped just long enough for his teammates to surround Welch and his commemorative 1,000-point ball and take a couple pictures. Then he was back to work.
Welch scored the last bucket of the third quarter – a vicious one-handed slam that began as a drive out on the perimeter and ended in the face of the defense. Boom! With the game tied at 53 late in the final stanza, the Warriors closed the contest on a 7-0 run, with Welch scoring four of those points, to finish off the Panthers.
"I knew I could do it, but I didn't know it was going to be this early", Welch said. "I thought it might happen some time next year".
-centercourt
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