RAY SWANSON | Keystoner Mercer's Moon, Berti celebrate

Scoring 1,000 points in a high school basketball career is a feat in itself, but for two guys to do it on the same night is really one for the record books.
Jason Moon and Sean Berti, both members of the Mercer High boys basketball team, hit the milestone on Jan. 6 in a contest against the Big Reds of West Middlesex. No one, to the best of my knowledge, has ever done this before in Mercer County. Mercer coach Mike Williams believes the scope may be even wider, such as a state or national mark.
Moon and Berti are the best of friends. They do a lot of things together, like playing basketball for the same team and scoring 1,000 career points on the same night. It's almost unheard of and these two Mustangs will certainly become a part of Mercer High basketball history with their outstanding feat.
Both young men are seniors this season and will be graduating this spring, however, they will both remember for the rest of their days, Jan. 6, 2004. It's a story their children will enjoy.
Elite company
In hitting the 1,000-point plateau, the two have joined some rather elite Mustang company. Bob "Posey" Rhoads is the top scorer in Mercer basketball history with 1,518 points, followed by: Jim McElrath with 1,404; John Harbison, 1,238; Tom Clayton, 1,176; Jerry Woods, 1,159; Dave Palmer, 1,157; Mark Brown, 1,133; and Bill Snodgrass, 1,115. Gary Peters had scored 1,092.
As of Jan. 23, Berti had 1,070 points and Moon 1,057, however, both had the remainder of the season to boost their totals.
Most of the high scoring Mustangs played when John Swogger was holding the reins, coaching the Mustangs to back-to-back PIAA state titles with a run-and-shoot attack.
Buffalo-bound
When you kick them out of the end zone on a kickoff attempt there's no return.
For that reason, coupled with his all-around kicking abilities, Hickory High's Ben Woods has accepted a full scholarship to the University at Buffalo. I haven't seen Buffalo's schedule this season, but it was this same unit that appeared on Youngstown State University's schedule for a number of years.
Steve Moser of Hermitage told me several years ago that he had been working with Woods and that he was "a good one; destined to be playing Division I football in the days to come."
We've seen Woods in action at Hickory High and he's everything Moser said he was and more. He has the leg for kicking and possesses amazing accuracy.
Jim Bell, Hickory's football coach, said he believes Woods is the best young kicker around and that he was very fortunate to have had him on his roster at Hickory.
During his four-year high school career at Hickory, Woods made good on 10 field goal attempts and a tremendous 72-of-76 in the extra-point department. Sixteen of his kickoffs this past season sailed either into or out of the end zone. He averaged 41 yards per punt and had a knack for depositing the ball inside the opposition's 10-yard line. This past season, in extra points, he went 27-for-28. That's accuracy.
Woods, a 6-foot-2, 190-pound senior, will be graduating in several months. We'll be keeping closer watch this season on the capabilities of the University at Buffalo now that they have one of the Shenango Valley's "favorite sons" on their roster.