SHELBY – At some point soon, a special connection between a coach and a player will come to an end, but before that moment, Kendall Zoulek and her coach/mom Sarah Wolting, got to share a memorable event, which surprisingly happened on their home court.

Last Tuesday’s scheduled Shelby at Whitehall girls basketball game was postponed one day and moved to Shelby due to a scheduling conflict in the Whitehall gym.

That random schedule change became pretty special early in the fourth quarter when Zoulek, a four-year standout for Shelby, hit a layup to score her 1,000th career point.

The really fun part was that Zoulek didn’t realize she was so close to 1,000 points.

“I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to make it,” she said. “We had some games cancelled last year, so I wasn’t sure how close I was.”

Her mother, however, was right on top of things.

“It was awesome,” said Wolting, who also scored more than 1,000 points in her career at Shelby. “I was so happy for her. She didn’t know it, so it was kind of a surprise for her. She knew she was pretty close, but she didn’t know she was going to do it that night.”

Zoulek didn’t know that she had hit the mark until Shelby Athletic Director Chuck Persenaire stopped the game.

“At first I didn’t know what was happening,” Zoulek said. “The game just kind of stopped and everyone was like, ‘What’s going on?’ I had no idea. Then our athletic director came on the court and started talking about me. I was like “Oh shoot, here it comes”. My mom was tearing up and I was starting to, too. I was kind of shocked but happy.”

One person missing from the ceremony was Zoulek’s grandfather and assistant coach Rick Zoulek, Wolting’s dad, who also is the longtime boys varsity head coach at Shelby.

The boys team was playing at Orchard View, so grandpa could not be there for the big moment.

“I texted him and said ‘I wish you had been there.’” Kendall said. “He replied and said he wish he had been, too. But basically, my whole family was there, and they all knew what was about to happen.”

Wolting said it was kind of tough for her dad to miss the game when his granddaughter hit 1,000 points.

“They have a very strong relationship,” Wolting said. “I wish he could’ve been there. It’s a weird situation for them sometimes, because he’s a coach too, but he’s still her grandpa. He’s hard on her and wants a lot from her, but he’s also the one that spoils her, too.”

Part of what makes Zoulek’s success in basketball so impressive is that she’s a three-sport athlete, and doesn’t focus exclusively on the family sport. She has also played volleyball in the fall and softball in the spring throughout high school, and has had to pick up a lot of different skills in all three sports over the years.

It’s very hectic,” said the senior standout, who’s currently averaging 14.6 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.4 steals per game. “It was a big step for me coming up to varsity in all my sports from eighth grade. It’s a huge step, but I was kind of relieved that my mom was my coach in basketball, so she could teach me to get through some of the stuff. She kept my head straight with basketball.”

When asked about her daughter’s biggest strength in basketball, Wolting said leadership, which is not surprising, since she came from a family of very successful and respected coaches.

“I’ve seen her grow a lot as a leader,” Wolting said. “Last year she became a true leader by being more vocal and more of a coach on the floor. We’ve got some sophomore guards she really helps on the floor, and that’s the biggest growth I’ve seen out of her.”

Leadership is something that comes natural, according to Zoulek.

“Being a leader means knowing what’s right and doing what’s right,” said Zoulek, who recently signed to play basketball at Muskegon Community College. “I feel like because I’m the coach’s daughter, I knew what to do and how to do it because she taught me. I think my teammates come to me because of that. I think I was just naturally put into that leadership position, but I like that.”

When Shelby takes the floor this week at Holton in the Division 3 districts – starting with a quarterfinal game against North Muskegon on Monday night –  it may be the last time Zoulek gets to take the floor with her mother.

“We haven’t talked about it a lot,” Wolting said. “I’m sure she’s thought of it. I know I’ve thought about it. Now that she’s signed with MCC, it’s not as sad that she’ll be done. It lightens it a bit knowing she’ll have two more years to play. But I’ll be very emotional when we’re done.”