On January 10 the long awaited game finally arrived when the Wayne City Indians played the Gallatin County Hawks. This was the game when Justin Durham scored his 1,000th point after leaving people on edge for four games in a row. He went into the game with 11 points left and at the beginning of the second quarter Durham made a three which landed perfectly on the 1,000th point mark. “Honestly I was excited and kind of overwhelmed, but at the same time I was just thinking we had a game to win,” quoted Durham. The game was paused as they recognized him and gave him the game ball and the crowd erupted in cheers. He then went on to score 35 points that game, his career high. 

Justin has made many achievements through basketball and has many more to make. He was the MVP of the Turkey Tournament earlier this year, which was the first one from Wayne City since 2011. He is also the first African American in the history of Wayne County to ever meet the milestone of 1,000 career points. He averages 20.9 points per game, 4.2 assists, and 11.1 rebounds. Justin continuously breaks the records he sets for himself and captures everyone’s attention while he does. Coach Jake Talbert comments, “Justin Durham has been a great player and ambassador for our program. He interacts with the other grades and his teammates follow his example. I am really proud to see how he has grown and the person he has become in the past four years.” 

Since the game was not at home, and many of the usual spectators were not there, Coach Talbert and the team recognized him in the home gym on the following Thursday followed by a victory against Thompsonville and a pizza party to celebrate Durham’s achievement.