High school basketball: What drives this Sierra High star player to play in big moments?

Logan Kilbert already had many big moments during his high school basketball career at Sierra High.

This season is no exception.

He scored a Central Section record 71 points and later went on to set the section record in points scored for his career, according to section historian Bob Barnett.

That didn’t end there.

Kilbert had a goal of scoring 3,000 points for his career and he did just that when he finished with 18 points in a 57-54 victory over Kingsburg on Jan. 20.

Kilbert is enjoying the moments in his final season with the Chieftains.

What makes Kilbert so successful?

“I’ve just always been around basketball, if that makes sense,” Kilbert said.

His father, Dan, is the Reedley College women’s basketball coach. Prior to Reedley, Dan Kilbert coached at Bullard High.

It’s why Kilbert spends a lot of time on the basketball court, whether it’s at home or at the school.

It paid off for Kilbert.

The previous record holder in the most points scored belonged to Tre’Von Willis of Washington Union, who scored 2,843 points from 2003-2006, according to Central Section historian Bob Barnett.

Sierra coach Ryan Watt said he coached against Willis and even played against former Washington Union star Deshawn Stevenson.

He said those two players are great, but Kilbert has shown him plenty is impressed with his star player.

“When you’re in the moment, you don’t always realize how special it is,” he said.

“It’s really fun to watch him play, especially when another player from another team might start talking a little bit. That’s going to happen. It’s crazy to think he broke that record.”

Entering this week’s games, Kilbert sits at 3,101 career points with a 31.8 average for the season, according to Barnett.

Sierra is 17-8 overall and 6-0 in the Northwest Sequoia League.

Kilbert would like nothing more than to cap this season with a Central Section championship that eluded his team in a loss to Kingsburg at Selland Arena last season.

“We all got a ton of experience because of the state run last year,” Kilbert said. “I want to see us win a (section) title because we got to the championship game, but we’ve never won it.”