Chaska senior Tray Lenzen scored his 1,000th career point in the first half of the Hawks’ Tuesday, Jan. 4, boys basketball game against Chanhassen.
It only felt like Lenzen scored that many points in the second half of the contest alone.
On a landmark night in which Lenzen joined the ranks of 1,000-point scorers for Chaska High School, the Hawks captain scored a game-high 35 points, as Chaska turned a tie game at halftime into a 70-47 blowout victory over their crosstown rival.
Chanhassen, who beat Chaska on a half court buzzer-beater in January, got off to a hot start.
Senior captain Riley Johnson, an Augustana University commit who missed the January contest, had the hot hand early, as Chanhassen took an early lead.
Chaska would quickly bounce back, rattling off an 11-0 run powered by two three-pointers by junior Evan Atkinson.
With 5 minutes to go in the first half, “1KTray” took a pass from junior Marquis Connell and scored on a driving layup, giving him his 1,000-point milestone.
“The feeling of scoring that 1,000th point was a combination of both excitement and relief,” Lenzen said. “I felt relief because I knew I was close before the game, and I was nervous at the start. However, the excitement of accomplishing my goal was beyond words.”
Both teams agreed to stop the game and allow Lenzen to celebrate the milestone with his teammates on the court and family members in the stands.
“All I could do was stand there and smile and share the court with my teammates. I could never have accomplished this goal without the amazing teammates that I have played with throughout the years,” said the Chaska senior.
Chanhassen, behind the shooting of sophomore Bennett Barger, senior Tyler Jahraus and junior Nathan Ramler, kept the game close in the first half, and sent both teams to the locker room at halftime tied at 28.
The Storm would score the first basket of the second half before Chaska went on a 15-1 run to take the game over. The Hawks’ offense was clicking, with senior Noah Slinde getting tough buckets down low, sophomore Tyler Forrest scoring in transition, and Atkinson adding an emphatic dunk.
But this night belonged to one player: Tray Lenzen. Every time you looked up, the Northwestern College-commit was scoring. Whether it was in the paint, on drives to the hoop, or from behind the three-point arc, Lenzen was virtually unstoppable on this evening. Behind Lenzen’s dominance, the Hawks pulled away.
“Coming back onto the court after halftime, when I already had my 1,000, all the nerves were gone and the ball just felt good in my hands. It also helped that my team was firing on all cylinders and we all just jelled because we were all fighting for the win. It always feels great when you get in the zone and you keep finding ways to put the ball in the hoop,” Lenzen said.
While many games in the series between the two Carver County rivals are barnburners, this one was dominated by the Hawks. Despite the lopsided score, Lenzen tipped his cap to the Storm for a great rivalry over the years.
“The Chaska-Chan rivalry is always one for the books! As a kid, I always went to those games cheering on Chaska and to be able to end my last rivalry game with a win, is all I could ask for,” he said. “It definitely felt phenomenal.”
