Freedom forward Jennifer Kokolus had two things to celebrate this month: reaching 1,000 points in her high school basketball career on Jan. 10 and being honored on senior night on Jan. 24.

Kokolus entered the Jan. 10 game at Freedom against Pocono Mountain East 34 points away from 1,000, but she didn’t know it. She didn’t even want to know.

“A couple games before that when I was over 100 away, it was the last time I asked because I didn’t want to know, so coming into the game, I had no idea how much I needed,” said Kokolus. “I didn’t want to play tentative or nervous to get the shots off.”

As the Patriots were headed toward a 41 point victory over the Cardinals, Kokolus re-entered the game in the fourth quarter.

[Coach Dean Reiman] put me in and he kind of hinted at it, so I went in and just tried to put up as many shots as I could, and my teammates found me,” she said.

With time running out in the game, Kokolus was fouled.

“When I went to the free throw line, everyone was standing, so I kind of figured it was one of those,” Kokolus said.

It was the first of her two free throws that made her a Freedom Patriot 1,000 point scorer.

“Everyone came out and rushed on the court and then I made my second one and it was the end of the game. It was a moment I’m going to remember forever,” said Kokolus.

The Patriot senior is the only senior on this year’s squad, so senior night belonged exclusively to Kokolus on Jan. 24 when Freedom defeated Dieruff, 62-19.

Kokolus’s teammates joined in the celebration by wearing T-shirts with Kokolus’s image on them.

“It was an embarrassing picture of me,” she laughed. “It was pretty cool [being the only senior]. I had to step into a leadership role but my teammates have made it a really special year for me.”

And between all the festivity of the last two weeks, a billboard commemorating Kokolus’s 1,000 points was erected on Route 33.

“One of my friend’s parents owns a billboard and they put it there. When they told me they did it, I was pretty shocked. It was pretty awesome. They’re a good family and I really appreciated it,” said Kokolus.

Kokolus’s friend is Moravian Academy’s Abe Atiyeh, who coincidentally scored his 1,000th point on Jan. 25, also on a free throw, during the Lions’ 60-58 victory over Wilson at Wilson.