Odessa’s Ryan Moffet has state scoring record – and state title – in his sights

Records are made to be broken, but you don’t expect the state scoring record to last less than one calendar year.

That’s exactly what is going to happen.

Barring an unforeseen act, Odessa’s Ryan Moffet with his 11th point Saturday will move past Brock Ravet and becomes Washington’s boys high school all-time scoring leader.

Ravet set the record last season playing for Kittitas, when he eclipsed previous record-holder Lance Den Boer (2,851) on Feb. 1, 2019. Ravet later scored 27 points to lead Kittitas to its third consecutive State 2B title on March 2, 2019.

Ravet finished his career with 3,100 points. Moffet passed the 3,000-point mark two weeks ago, and has just kept chugging along.

He had 43 points that night in a win over Valley Christian. He added 29 more later that week in a rematch with the Panthers. In Odessa’s District 7 1B first-round win over Republic on Tuesday, Moffet scored 32 points and sat out the second half in the Tigers’ 104-23 win.

Moffet admits to thinking about the record, but he said it’s secondary to his team’s goals.

“I want to work hard and I want to be, I want to be number one, right?” he said. “But I want to win a state championship. So, I mean, it’s in there, obviously. You can’t not think about it because everybody tells me about it, right? But it’s behind a lot of team stuff.”

Odessa coach Larry Weber has helped Moffet through the process.

“We’ve had an opportunity to talk,” Weber said. “I guess my job with Ryan is helping him handle these situations. I don’t need to teach him how to shoot the ball or attack the basket or find his teammates. He’s done that since he was a little guy. So, I think it’s more my job to help him through this and understand that, you know, you’re probably the main reason that we are as successful as we are.

“But I think it’s so important that you just be a good teammate throughout this whole process.”

Moffet has heard critics say he’s playing an individual game within a team game. But he doesn’t see it that way – and neither do his coach or teammates.

“I mean, it’s not just so much the points – it’s (that) they’re not empty points,” Moffet said. “Every point I scored, I needed to score. I just see the 3,000 as something I had to do for my team. So, yeah, if I needed to score 2,000, I would have done that. But it just so happened to be three.”

Moffet knocks down a lot of 3-pointers, and Odessa (21-0) likes to run whenever the opportunity arises. But Weber stressed that Moffet does a lot of his work from the line as well.

“He’s able to get to the rim and absorb the contact and still have a chance to convert – and he’s lights out from the free-throw line,” Weber said. “The physicalness that he’s able to handle – because for some reason he seems to, when fouls occur, he seems to get fouled awful hard most of the time.

“So when he does get to the free-throw line, you know, he’s gonna beat you there, too.”

Weber said this group of seniors – many of whom played on Odessa’s record-setting back-to-back state championship football team – have been playing basketball together since second grade.

The Tigers didn’t have their first basketball game until Dec. 11 this season since so much of the team was tied up with football.

“They sort of learned at an early age in our small town that (Moffet) is going to score the points, and other guys do the other work to help him score his points,” Weber said. “And at times, you know, in the wrong situation that could cause jealousy and different things, but it hasn’t reared its head with this group of boys.

“They’ve been together since they were little. They’ve been successful in other sports. Some of the other kids, they dominate in the other sports. So they’ve understood that Ryan is sort of our leader on the basketball floor, and they’re going to do what they can to win the game. And if it means let him score, we get the rebounds and dive on the floor and hit an open shot when we get the looks.

“It’s been a successful combination up to this point.”

Moffet said he hears Ravet’s name a lot.

“Oh yeah, I see it,” he said.

“Yeah. ‘3,100. That’s ridiculous. Oh, my god, 3,100. No one will ever touch that.’

“And then I’m just sitting there. I just sat there quietly, worked all summer, worked all fall, knowing that I’m gonna have a chance to break it and when I do I’m gonna try and shatter it.”

He’ll certainly have the opportunity.

Moffet has 3,090 points entering Saturday’s semifinal against Cusick at Medical Lake High School. With at least two more district tournament games, then perhaps a long run during the state tourney, Moffet could have six more games to pad his career total.

Could 3,200 be in sight?

To do that, the Tigers will have to reach their team goal. Weber hopes they can improve on their fourth-place finish at last year’s tournament.

“We’re mature,” Weber said. “We’ve been to state as freshmen, sophomores and juniors, which I don’t think any other school or any other team from Odessa’s ever accomplished that, so that’s a pretty special feeling.

“They know how to play in big situations. And I hope that our maturity will show when it comes down to those bigger games, when you need a possession, or a stop, or something like that.”

Despite his numbers and lightning-quick release, the 5-foot-11 Moffet – who plans to study law in college – doesn’t have a scholarship offer. That has obviously added to the chip on his shoulder this season.

“I’d rather be an underdog,” he said. “Don’t talk about me. Don’t write about me. Don’t rank me in your top 50. That’s something I’ll always remember – no schools talking to me. I think about it. It (ticks) me off. That’s why I come out here and I score 3,000, and that’s why we’re undefeated.”