Austin Hemmingson | Daily Press Gladstone’s Reece Castor (44) squares up with the ball as Manistique’s Schyler Andersen (30) defends during the first quarter Thursday at Gladstone. Castor broke the boys’ school record for career points scored, scoring 34 for a career total of 1,344.

GLADSTONE — Reece Castor couldn’t have drawn it up any better. The recent Northern Michigan signee drilled a three-pointer with a hand in his face to beat the first half buzzer, breaking Doug Ingalls’s school record for career points.

Asked if that was a special way for the record to be broken, Castor gave a simple answer.

“Yeah, no doubt,” he said. “We definitely didn’t try to draw it up that way but it was pretty special.”

Castor entered the game needing 16 points to break the record, and he got just that in the first half. The old record was 1,325 points by Ingalls, and Castor now has 1,344.

Asked what it means to him, Castor said it’s a very satisfying feeling.

“It means a lot,” Castor said. “Just knowing that all my hard work paid off is a great feeling.”

Castor was honored by athletic director Andy Jacques, who announced to the crowd that Castor had just broke the school record before the teams entered the locker room for halftime.

“I want to thank the community, my teammates and my parents for all of their support,” Castor said. “I couldn’t have done it without them.”

Braves’ coach Dane Quigley was happy for Castor and chimed in with his thoughts after the game.

“It was really the perfect way to get that record,” Quigley said. “He’s (Castor) just a winner. He doesn’t care about records, he only cares about winning and losing. He’s helped us win a lot of games here at Gladstone and he’s just a complete team player.”

Despite being known for his scoring, Castor is a complete all-around player. Last season he averaged 6.6 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game.

He’s been named an All-U.P. first teamer the last two seasons after being named to the second team as a freshman. He was also a Detroit Free Press all-state pick his sophomore year and BCAM all-state last year.

During Tuesday’s season opener against Iron Mountain, Castor dropped 33 points to pull within 16 points of the record.

He always has the ball in his hands, and is the focal point for the entire offense.

Castor previously had visited Central Michigan and Wisconsin-Green Bay, with his sights set on earning a Division 1 scholarship before signing in the early signing period with NMU.

He is now within striking distance of the school’s total career points record — boys or girls — held by Jammie Botruff, who has 1,456.

Asked if that is on his mind or if he’ll try to break that record, Castor just nodded and said, “yeah, definitely. If I can get it I’ll go for it.”

With just two games played this season, it looks almost certain Castor will reach that mark if he stays healthy and all goes well.