Groton’s Manning hits 1,000-point milestone

Groton senior Kalib Manning was supposed to get at least 20 basketball games in his final season. Due to COVID-19, 20 became 12, and Manning’s chase for 1,000 points was a little tighter than expected. He reached the mark with one game to spare March 4, in a 23-point effort against Ithaca.

Manning became the fourth player in school history to reach the milestone, building his legacy within Groton’s athletic program. With his sights set on moving on to football season, where he is an All-State running back for Groton, Manning looked back at his basketball career and his achievements.

“It was amazing,” Manning said. “It stinks that I won’t get to play basketball again, but to be able to accomplish something like that and be in your school’s history for forever is amazing. I was really happy to have a season and accomplish that.”

Basketball season was far from a certainty this year due to COVID-19. It was originally scheduled to start Jan. 4 but was subsequently pushed back by over a month. That uncertainty was at the front of Manning’s mind until he was able to step onto the court.

“At the beginning of the year, I was definitely really scared because we were supposed to be having sports and then they kept getting postponed,” he said. “I was thinking that we probably wouldn’t even have a season. But when I heard we did, I just knew I had to make the most of it. I really enjoyed it. And I was glad we had it.”

Once basketball was given the green light, the 1,000-point watch began as Manning was generally aware of how close he was.

“Since last year, my dad was telling me that I was on pace to be able to do it,” Manning said. “Then this year, I was told that I could possibly do it, and our coach scheduled us a few more games. I never really knew exactly how many more points I needed because I felt like that put too much pressure on me, so I was just playing. Then, those last few games of the season, my coach told me I needed a few more.”

It all came together with a 3-pointer against Ithaca that Manning can vividly remember.

“I remember it was … a 3,” he said. “I had four points before that. All I could think about was getting that next point, and I got an open 3. I took it and made it, and then, it was just unreal. It was awesome.”

Even though the game was played at Ithaca, they halted the contest so Manning and his team could properly celebrate.

“A bunch of my teammates came over, hugged me and told me ‘congratulations,’” Manning said. “Then, we went out onto the court, they gave me the game ball, we got a few pictures and then just continued the game.”

While the season had a storybook ending for Manning, it got off to a hectic start. Teams were notified just a week before the first game that basketball was permitted in Tompkins County and needed to squeeze in six practices quickly to be approved for the first game. Manning discussed how the team handled the lack of preparation time.

“We went back to the basics,” he said. “We ran so that we could condition and be in better shape than the other teams because they’ve also been off for such a long time that conditioning was going to play a big factor. That was really it, and we came out pretty successful.”

It was an impressive 7-5 finish for Groton this year, considering two of the losses were single-digit defeats against the much bigger Class AA Ithaca. Manning touched on what made the team special this year.

“Us seniors played really well,” Manning said. “We knew that it was our last season and we had to give it our all. I think the other teammates were just happy to get back and play and do something that they love. That just made us play really hard because we knew what it was like to not have a season and we just wanted to make the most of it.”

The success was a bit bittersweet since Groton performed well without any crowd to enjoy the victories with them. Manning discussed the uniqueness of this season.

“It was definitely very weird because a crowd can really play into a game,” Manning said. “The masks are definitely different. But when you’re actually playing, it didn’t seem too different. You don’t really notice the mask or the fans not being there because you got your teammates still playing. It definitely was still fun, but it would have been awesome if we could have had the fans there to witness everything and have a great season.”

It was a memorable season in more ways than one for Manning. It was a short 12-game sprint in quiet gymnasiums, but it ended with Manning etching his name in Groton’s history books in his final year.