When you think of all the all-time great high school boys basketball scorers in Southern California history, the list is dreamy, with Glendora legends Cameron Murray, Tracy Murray and Casey Jacobsen among the top 10 of all time.
Now joining that elite company, and with a chance to be the all-time career scoring champion, is Los Altos High School’s Jarod Lucas, who scored a career-high 54 points on Wednesday in an 89-47 victory over West Covina to move to No. 5 on the all-time scoring list.
Lucas’ career total moved to 2,858 points, passing DeMar Derozan (2,810), who played at USC and is now with the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs, and Cameron Murray (2,842).
There are only four players ahead of him and all are within reach. Chino Hills’ LiAngelo Ball is fourth with 2,918 points, then come the only three players that cracked the 3,000-point mark – Tracy Murray (3,053), Mater Dei’s Taylor King (3,216) and the all-time leader, Jacobsen with 3,284 points.
Where will Lucas wind up?
By playing out the rest of the league schedule and one playoff game, Lucas would need to average just 17.7 points a game to catch Tracy Murray and would need to average 38.7 points a game, which is right on his season average (38.4), to become the section’s all-time scoring champ.
Los Altos is 13-5 and 3-0 in the Hacienda League with a home game against South Hills on Friday at 6:30 p.m.
Just to be mentioned with so many great names, especially in a hotbed like Southern California, has been thrilling for the Oregon State-bound sharpshooter.
“It’s a blessing,” Lucas said. “I know I put in the work to be in a situation like this, but I couldn’t be here without my teammates and the type of people I have in my corner.”
And he’s been able to do it in front of his father, Jeff Lucas, who is also Los Altos’ coach.
“It has been a great time for him, for me and my family,” Jeff Lucas said. “When the year started, I’m not sure Jarod knew he would climb the ladder like this. To average 38 points a game is some high-rent district, but we’re happy that he’s doing well, our team is doing well and we’ve won nine out of 10.”
Lucas has been a scoring sensation since his freshman year, but what makes his scoring totals so incredible is that he’s done it with only five career playoff games.
Los Altos isn’t a basketball factory by any means, but with Lucas, and the way CIF-SS places teams into divisions based on a team’s success, Los Altos has gone from a Division 3AA team his freshman year to being placed in Division 1 this season.
Los Altos’ placement in Division 1 means even winning a first-round playoff game will be tough, but the fact Lucas has carried his school to the top division in Southern California tells you much about his abilities.
“I thought about that, a lot of guys on these lists were in a lot of playoff games and played for CIF championships,” Jeff Lucas said. “We would like to get there too, but it’s obviously going to be tough.”
For Lucas, the challenge is concentrating on wins while everyone is reminding him where he ranks and what’s ahead.
Los Altos’ Jarod Lucas dropped 54 points against Charter Oak to move to No. 5 on the CIF-SS career scoring list, passing DeMar DeRozan and Cameron Murray. With 2,858 points, he is closing in on 3,000 and could catch Glendora legend Tracy Murray. pic.twitter.com/VT5R8iW2EK
— Fred J. Robledo 👨🏻💻 (@SGVNSports) January 10, 2019
Lucas also has 334 career 3-pointers, which ranks sixth all-time on the CIF-SS all-time list. He recently passed Cameron Murray with 328.
“To be honest, it is kind of difficult not to have it on your mind,” Lucas said of the scoring hoopla. “There are different people telling me you’re this far from that guy or this guy, and my family and I, we get caught up in it too. But I’m trying to keep that out of my head and just concentrating on winning and doing whatever we can to close out the season.”
Lucas is having one of the best seasons in the San Gabriel Valley since Tracy Murray’s incredible 1988-89 campaign when he averaged 44 points a game and took the Tartans to the state championship and became the all-time, single-season scoring leader with 1,505 points.
Lucas has scored 50 points or more three times this season.
“A lot of these games when you get going, you get going,” Lucas said. “Sometimes I’m getting guys in foul trouble trying to guard me tight, and if you don’t guard me tight, I can make you pay.”
CIF Southern Section career boys basketball scoring leaders:
3,284 Casey Jacobsen, Glendora 1996-99
3,216 Taylor King, Mater Dei 2003-07
3,053 Tracy Murray, Glendora 1987-89
2,918 Liangelo Ball, Chino Hills 2014-17
2,858, Jarod Lucas, Los Altos, 2015-2019
2,842 Cameron Murray, Glendora 1991-94
2,810 DeMar DeRozan, Compton 2005-08
2,693 Leon Wood, St. Monica 1977-79
2,682 Mitchell Butler, Oakwood 1986-89
2,666 Jrue Holliday, Campbell Hall 2004-08
2,647 Caleb Gervin, Cathedral City 1994-98
