Lasek cruises past 1,000 points on his way to school record

One has to have a lot of positive attributes to reach 1,000 points scored by the middle of his junior season in high school. Zack Lasek is just such a person.

Highland has had him in the starting lineup of its basketball teams since he was a freshman. Getting to 1,000 points has been a goal since early in his career.

'It was definitely in the back my mind because after my freshman year, I had right around 400,” Lasek said. His older brother, Trent, reached the milestone in the last game of his Huskies career, 'so I knew I wanted to get it before that.”

Lasek likely will be the school's career scoring leader before the season ends.

His coach, Marcus Hall, has seen those positive attributes every day in practice, not only from Zack, but also from Trey, who is a senior. Hall also coached Trent, who is the Huskies' all-time assist leader.

'Zack is a great player and he comes from a great family. That family has provided a great support system for him. He has learned a lot from his two older brothers. He was a very selfless player and fantastic. He has been a beneficiary of playing with some great players. I think that has helped him develop and he is now our focal point.”

He is also the other team's focal point on defense. Despite that, on the night he reached 1,000, he scored 35 points, including three 3-pointers, and had 19 rebounds in an 89-67 win over Lone Tree.

Mediapolis coach Greg Worrall appreciates Lasek's all-around game.

'He's a good post player, but he has a lot of skills. I know he puts a lot of work into his game. He is tough to guard whether he is inside or outside. We had trouble guarding him anywhere he is on the court. Everybody wants to pigeonhole a kid because he's big in high school, but where is it going to play when he moves on. You do a kid an injustice if you limit him.”

Lasek is not limiting his options as far as college. In fact, he is not even limiting them to one sport.

'I have talked with Nebraska and the University of Northern Iowa and some other low majors, but I'm also looking at football maybe. I've talked to Iowa Iowa State, Nebraska and some other Big 10 schools about that. I don't favor one sport over the other, so whichever one offers the best opportunity will be the one I will pick.”

Lasek has spent a lot of time working on his basketball skills playing in AAU tournaments since sixth grade.

'When you go to those big tournaments, there's a lot more physicality because there are a lot of DI prospects you are playing against,” he said.

He has been to places as far away as New York, Atlanta and Dallas to play basketball.

'I have just gone all over. The competitiveness and the physicality in New York did not result in a lot of whistles being blown. We were playing in the Bronx and it was really rough.”

The travel and the extra court time has resulted in Lasek being regarded as one of the premier players in the area.

'He's put a lot of time into his game,” Hall said. 'He's a very smart player. He is a smart person.”