Cooper hits 1,000 points

The 1,000-point man, Kobe Cooper, with his parents, James and Theresa

Hayti High School’s star basketball player, Kobe Cooper, has hit an outstanding milestone in his high school career — his 1,000th point as an Indian. The highly skilled hoopster obtained the coveted milestone during Hayti’s big district championship win over Bernie at Bernie’s gym Thursday, Feb. 22.

The two-time All-Conference and All-District player had this to say about his achievement: “My goal never was to score 1,000 points,” he said. “My goal was to make it to State. I’ve just always played hard and done what is best for my team.”

Kobe says he would like to thank his teammates, Coach Aaron Bidewell, Coach Jackie Johnson, Mrs. Tipton and the Hayti community for supporting Hayti basketball.

Regarding Cooper and his other star senior, Darius Jones, Coach Aaron Bidewell made these remarks: “Both these guys have wonderful parents. As a coach, if your players have parents who support them, it makes things so much easier. I’ve coached these two guys so hard, and every time I’ve talked to their parents there’s never been one negative thing. They have a wonderful support system in their parents. That’s probably why they’re going to play next year, and I wish more parents were like them. They allow people to be tough on them, because life is tough. They have parents who allow coaches and teachers to be hard on them, and that’s why they’re going to be successful later on down the roads of life.”