The fact that Moreau Catholic senior guard Damari Milstead can score with the basketball in his hands is nothing new to teams around Northern California. But the milestone he will likely reach this coming Tuesday night, when the Mariners host Washington, is a new one for the powerhouse boys' program at the Hayward campus.
The four-year varsity starter and Grand Canyon University commit is on the verge of reaching the 2,000-point mark for his career at Moreau Catholic, a feat which has never been achieved in the history of the program.
"It will be an honor (to reach the milestone)," Milstead said. "I view it as a big accomplishment, being the first boy to do that here, with some of the great players this program has had."
Milstead wasted no time establishing himself as a premier scoring option for the Mariners, scoring 21 points in the first game of his high school career, though it came in a loss to eventual NCS and CIF champion Monte Vista. Even as a freshman, he knew how to produce on the court, dropping 28 points in a mid-season win over Kennedy, and scoring 19 points in a NCS title game victory over Salesian.
With the four-year starter's career nearing its high school conclusion, the numbers have become staggering. This year, he is averaging 24.4 points per game, and has averaged over 15 points per game in all four seasons. But it has gotten more difficult as his career has progressed, and Milstead has responded with even more dramatic improvement.
"Early in his career, he would draw opposing team's fourth-best defenders, with all the talent he had surrounding him," said Moreau Catholic coach Frank Knight. "Now he draws everyone's top defender, and his game has jumped dramatically at the same time."
Knight described Milstead's improvement in the weight room, hours of practice to extend his range and accuracy on his jump shot, and ability to get to the free throw line more often as ways in which he has developed a well-rounded backcourt game over the years, one which has created nightmares for opposing defenders.
Despite that individual improvement, however, Milstead found himself tasked with an even bigger challenge at the outset of this season - to mold a team which brought up 11 players from last year's junior varsity team and had to wait for other key contributors to get back into basketball shape after an extended football season. And he had to do that while facing one of the most difficult schedules of any program in the state.
"I might not have scheduled the same way early in the season, had I known we were going to have to go back to teaching basics to so many of our new varsity players," Knight said. "We had to get Damari and Kyree (Walker) on the same page. We also knew that our football guys would come in and be physical for us, and that eventually we would go on a run."
The season started with a promising 72-63 win over Immanuel-Reedley, one in which Milstead scored 27 points despite shooting just 33 percent from the field, while the freshman phenom Walker made his high school debut with 27 points. But things slowed from there. Milstead scored a season-high 44 points against Mitty, but it was for naught in an overtime loss. A win over Castro Valley was then followed by a five-game losing streak. Despite the fact the losses came to national powers such as Basha-Chandler (AZ), Morgan Park-Chicago, and Damien-La Verne, it still placed an additional weight on Milstead.
"Early this year was tough. I never experienced even a three-game losing streak in my first three years here, so I really had to be patient," Milstead said. "We were all new to each other this year, so we had to stay focused on the fact that it's how good you are in March."
Despite a promising win over Crespi to break the five-game skid, things continued to go in the wrong direction for the Mariners, with back-to-back losses to James Logan and Freedom in early January.
"That Freedom game was a low point for us," Milstead said. "We had a team meeting right after that, and Coach Knight laid down a personal challenge to me, along with the whole team. Now, I'm just focused on how I can make this team the best in the North Coast Section and the best in the state."
Moreau has not tasted defeat since that January 7 loss to the Falcons, reeling off eight straight wins, including what Knight described as a "springboard game" against Jesuit. And most recently, it included a 69-56 win over Logan to place the two teams into a tie atop the Mission Valley standings. Milstead dropped 32 points in the win over the Colts, displaying his improved shooting by going 4-of-7 beyond the arc, while Walker had 15 points and 14 rebounds and sophomore David Hector provided an additional presence with 10 points.
"It was a statement game for us," Milstead said. "The first time, they hit us in the mouth. We weren't ready for that. This time, we were ready, and it was probably our best all around game."
The Mariners now seem to be getting contributions from up and down the lineup, much like the previous three teams which all reached section title games. In fact, Milstead is aiming to reach his fourth section championship game, one for each year of high school basketball. Contributions are coming from lockdown defender LJ Anderson, who is also one of the top cornerbacks in the section on the football field, and the quick backcourt hands of senior Jullen 'Booda' Ison, who just signed his letter of intent to play football at Northern Colorado. But it's Milstead's ability to mesh with this group and take his play to another level which will likely be the determining factor in how far the Mariners go.
"Damari is locked in right now," Knight said. "He is on a mission, and it has just been awesome to watch him grow."
The Mariners have five games remaining in the regular season before the NCS playoffs, where Moreau, Bishop O'Dowd, and Cardinal Newman will be among the top contenders for the Division 2 title, and a shot at the CIF playoffs.
