Senior puts together memorable campaign that now ranks high in record books
You can count on one hand the most influential boys basketball players in Sachem history and they own almost every career and single-season record. Names like Jeff Ruland, Mark Graebe and Jerry Schlie have been spoken about in the hallways at 212 Smith Road for decades.
A new name is now gracing the record books in dozens of statistical categories and it’s Sachem North senior James Butler.
While Ruland spent a decade in the NBA, Graebe played at Pepperdine and Schlie played at Miami, Butler likely won’t be a Division I threat, but his numbers are certainly eye-opening.
Sachem North coach Matt Candemeres remembers seeing Butler as a freshman and knew he was special.
“His passion for the game and work ethic never slowed down and even forced me at times to pick up my work ethic as a trainer and coach to match his energy and drive,” said Candemeres. “From 7 a.m. workouts on weekends to dog day mid-summer workouts in the afternoon, the only thing James wanted was to improve his game and be great.”
Butler is the first Sachem player since Schlie in 1996 to reach the 1,000-points threshold.
Only Ruland, a Sachem and Suffolk County Sports Hall of Famer, has more points in a single season than Butler, who finished this year with 562. Ruland had 583.
Ruland edged out Butler in single-game scoring average. His 28.2 points per game in 1977 were a slight margin ahead of Butler’s 28.1.
Only Butler and Ruland have scored 40-points in single games twice. Butler saved his magic for the final two games of the season where he put up just enough to reach that 1,000-point career mark, which he achieved in the final contest of the year.
He now holds the record for field goals in a game (16), and three-pointers in a game (9, twice). His 62 three-pointers this season are second all-time.