Scoring his 1,000th career point was the type of landmark achievement West Mifflin Area junior forward C.J. Hester will never forget.
Even if becoming only the fourth West Mifflin player to record 1,000 points, and the first junior to attain such a distinction under Titans 14-year head coach Lance Maha, was the farthest thing from his mind at the time.
"It was a pretty cool experience, but I wasn't too concerned about it," Hester recalled of the night last month in which he recorded 25 points to lead West Mifflin to a 71-56 blowout over South Park. "You don't get remembered for scoring points. You get remembered for winning."
If the Titans' sensational 6-foot-4 junior forward continues on his current high school career arc, however, he just might be able to achieve the best of both worlds.
After bursting onto the local scene as one of the WPIAL's most fearsome scoring threats as a sophomore last season, Hester has transferred that success to the 2009-10 campaign and blossomed into one of the area's most well-rounded basketball players.
And with his Titans staring at a realistic chance to finish in second place in Section 4-AAA this season, Hester also may be ready to lead his team toward the object of his deepest affection a WPIAL Class AAA championship.
"That's always our goal," Hester said Tuesday. "Coach Maha always puts mile markers for us and that's always our goal, to first win every game, to win section, then win WPIALs, then win states. We've just got to take it game by game."
The first time Hester gained the interest of Maha and his coaching staff came some time ago when he participated in West Mifflin's youth basketball camp as an interesting sixth-grade prospect.
"From sixth, seventh, to eighth grade on he's always played a year above where he's supposed to be," Maha said of Hester. "He's always a kid that will listen, work hard and try to get better."
Now, six years after their initial meeting, it is no surprise to Maha that Hester is closing in on guard Bryant McCallister's West Mifflin school record of 1,514 career points set in 2002.
"He'll have a really good shot at it," Maha said. "With the pace he is at right now, he should break it."
A starter from the beginning of his freshman season, Hester began to come into his own as a sophomore last winter, averaging 20.5 points and 11 rebounds per game.
Now a junior, Hester has upped those already impressive statistics to 24.9 points per game, which is good for a sixth-place tie in the WPIAL scoring race.
Always a strong 3-point shooting threat and solid scoring presence in the low post, Hester has worked hard on his intermediate shooting since last winter to become the complete offensive package.
"He gets a lot of attention from the teams we play," Maha said. "So he's had to find different ways to get going."
Becoming stronger by adding muscle to his formerly lanky frame also has helped in Hester's maturation process.
"He's stretched his game from season to season where he's become a better all-around player," Maha said.
And the collegiate scouts have taken notice. Hester already has received scholarship offers from Division I Centenary and Division II Pitt-Johnstown.
A successful career at a Division I program could definitely be in the cards for Hester.
"He's a lot like the kid from Villanova, Taylor King," Maha said. "C.J.'s probably a poor man's Taylor King at this point. He's a dream to coach. If you had 10 of him you wouldn't need me. They would do it all themselves."
With scholarship offers already on the table, Hester also has received recruiting attention from some high-profile schools, including Pitt, Penn State, West Virginia, Michigan and Duquesne.
"I think I'm getting more familiar with the atmosphere of playing in the different types of games," Hester said. "That's always been my dream, to play at a high-level D-I program."
