Reginald Stoner has grown from a boy to a man during his time with North Central.
"To see some of the things he was doing as an eighth grader," expressed North Central assistant coach Rayvon Gray, who has been on staff for 5 seasons. "He was already play high major varsity minutes. So it was almost as if I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Like how is he this young, and doing it at this level."
Stoner has been playing varsity for the Hurricanes since the 7th grade. He was the starting point guard on the Canes' state title teams in 2019 and 2020, and Stoner earned all-state honors in 2021. All while quietly handling his business.
"I really let my game speak for itself," Stoner explained. "Say if somebody talking trash to me. I laugh at em, but if they keep going, I'm like 'alright, I hear you.' But if they keep going and I'm killing them, then I have to talk."
But Stoner made his loudest statement last week, by scoring a school record 59 points against St. Edmund.
"He told me that it could possibly happen and I had never seen that in person," 1st year North Central Head Coach Basil Brown described. "So I was just like, okay. You kind of go at it like, 'don't get your hopes up.' And you know to see a feat like that, you know, it's pretty special."
But Stoner's senior year isn't special because of numbers or wins. Instead it's due to family, as the Canes current leading scorer is his nephew, De'vion Lavergne
"Me and him back in the day, we used to go at it," Stoner said. "Who gonna be better than who. That's when he started getting older and taller than me."
"I was under his shadow for a little while," Lavergne added. "I had to step out. He taught me a little bit, I taught him a little bit."
Stoner hopes to add one more trophy to the case, but his positive impact will last much longer. It includes playing at the next level, as he's committed to LSU-Eunice.
"When you think about Reginald, actions speak louder than words," Brown said. "This school is 12th grade all the way down in sixth grade. So this guy is influencing like high school generations right now."
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