Photo by Andrew Potter North Farmington senior Kyle Vinales is the all time leading scorer for the Raiders. Vinales broke a record that has stood since 1986.

North Farmington senior breaks boys basketball scoring record

By Christian Davis
C & G Sports Writer

FARMINGTON HILLS — North Farmington senior Kyle Vinales didn’t score in his first varsity game.

In fact, it took until game three before he sank a free-throw on the south end of the Raiders’ gym against Troy Athens in his freshman season.

But that first point started the greatest scoring career in the Raiders’ long history.
Vinales broke the career scoring mark of 1,171 with a basket against Detroit Henry Ford Dec. 22 at Westland John Glenn.

“After the basket, they called timeout and announced it in the gym,” Vinales recalled during a Jan. 7 practice. “I was happy, but I was still in the flow of the game. I just started smiling, but we had to start playing again, so there wasn’t a big celebration.”

Rick Anderson previously held the mark after his playing career from 1983-86.
Though coach Tom Negoshian didn’t realize at the time that Vinales would someday rewrite the record book when he joined the team, the veteran coach did know he had a special player on his hands.

“We knew about him when he came in from junior high,” Negoshian said.

The coach added that Vinales’ game has evolved since that first season. As a freshman, he had the benefit of watching veteran guards in front of him. As a sophomore, he became the point guard and distributed the ball where it was needed, and as a junior, he took on more of the scoring load.

Negoshian said he told Vinales before his junior season that he would be counted to be an offensive threat because the Raiders were so young.

“To his credit, before the season, he worked really hard to improve his shooting,” Negoshian said.

This season, he’s averaging 25 points per game and has helped his team to a 5-2 overall start. Though he’s scored more than 40 points in a game twice already, Negoshian said that’s not the only reason he’s such a special player.

“His leadership and his passing,” the coach said, adding that Vinales is probably the best player he’s seen at North Farmington in his 37 years of teaching in the district. “He understands the game, gets other kids to play the right way, and really does a great job of leading the kids.”

Still to come
Vinales signed his National Letter of Intent to play for Grand Valley State University next season, but before that, the senior and the rest of the Raiders still have business to finish.

Vinales said the team’s goal is to win a district title, something it hasn’t done since 2004, losing in the district final the last three seasons.

“This is the best team we’ve had, so hopefully, we can do it,” he said.

Negoshian said the squad will get a taste of the intensity of postseason play when it hosts Southfield-Lathrup at 7 p.m. Jan. 14.

“We’ve had some great, great battles, and really enjoy playing against each other,” the coach said. “I can’t think of one game that hasn’t gone down to the wire in the last two years, and I’m sure it’ll be another battle, another war.

“(Lathrup coach) Mike (Avery) once said that it was almost like we’re playing in March in January. It gets us ready for the tournament.”

You can reach Sports Writer Christian Davis at cdavis@candgnews.com or at (586) 498-1062.