Boys' Latin's Watson scores 2,000th

It took Maurice Watson Jr. 4 minutes, 52 seconds Thursday to make Philadelphia Public League basketball history.

It took him three layups and six points. It took him one prodding drive to the basket, absorbing some contact from an upright Simon Gratz defender, Fulani Freeman.

With the game clock reading 3:08 in the first quarter, the ball left Watson's right hand, kissed off the glass, and zipped through the net.

Watson, of Boys' Latin Charter, became just the fourth player in the Pub's 112-year history to eclipse 2,000 career points.

He looked up and pointed to his girlfriend in the stands - she was the first person he saw, he said - acknowledging later that he had to hold back tears.

His teammates and classmates rushed the court at Shepard Recreation Center at 57th Street and Haverford Avenue. Play stopped for a little less than two minutes as photographers and camera people huddled around the 5-foot-10, 160-pound guard. He hugged teammate Yahmir Greenlee like a brother.

Watson finished the game with 22 points to lead all scorers, as Boys' Latin beat Gratz, 80-59. He shot 9 for 17 from the field with four rebounds, seven assists, and six steals.

Above all, he joined a list of elite Pub greats: all-time leading scorer Maureece Rice (Strawberry Mansion), Wilt Chamberlain (Overbrook) and Tyrone Garland (Bartram), a former AAU teammate of Watson's.

"I'm grateful that I can be mentioned in the same breath as Wilt Chamberlain," Watson said. "And it's even better that I can do it in the gym right across the street from his house, basically."

Chamberlain eclipsed 2,000 points in the 1950s, graduating in '55.

Watson, committed to Boston University, reached 1,000 points on Feb. 17, 2010, as a sophomore. As a junior, he scored a career-high 43 points. As Thursday took its course, Watson said his stomach was "in knots." It was the most nervous he's ever felt, he said.

On the first Boys' Latin possession, Watson floated an alley-oop pass to teammate Carlos Taylor, to a loud ovation by the crowd.

The Warriors (14-4 overall, 7-3 league) smothered Gratz (2-10, 1-8) with half-court traps and full-court presses, and Watson dominated the tempo.

His team went into halftime leading by 19. A 9-0 run to start the third quarter, in which Watson assisted two buckets and scored another, put the Warriors ahead by 28.

Perhaps no one in attendance was prouder than Watson's father and head coach, Maurice Sr., the only basketball mentor his son has known.

"At that moment, I could have held him, walked out of this gym, and that be it," Watson Sr. said of the 2,000-point bucket. "If basketball ended for us today, I'm still the happiest father on this earth."

It's a day that would never have come to pass had Watson not decided to remain at Boys' Latin after his freshman year, when he considered transferring to Archbishop Carroll of the Catholic League.

It's a decision that kept him on the court overlooked by a colorful Chamberlain mural at Shepard. Thursday was Watson's final high school game in the gym.

"This is a day I'm definitely going to remember forever," he said.

Simon Gratz   5 14 13 27 – 59

Boys' Latin   24 14 24 18 – 80

SG: Javon Singer 8, Tyrik Watson 2, Kendall Haines 3, Khilil Farrell 18, Fulani Freeman 4, Shaakir Gibbs 15, Chris Hauser-Dikens 4, Nadir Rouse 5.

BL: Maurice Watson Jr. 22, Carlos Taylor 13, Rashon Wooten Miller 7, Khadafi Robinson 3, Amir Tucker 7, Daquan Rosser 5, Erik Lark 4, Yahmir Greenlee 7, Eddie Powell 8, Pasquale Dimascio 4.