COLLINS — When he was in the fifth grade, Luke Rowlinson was a ball boy for the Wynford Royals basketball team.

As high school senior, Rowlinson is now a 1,000-point career scorer at Western Reserve High School.

Rowlinson broke the 1,000-point barrier on January 5 in a 58-48 victory over Fireland Conference foe Norwalk St. Paul. How Luke arrived at Western Reserve from Wynford is no coincidence.

In fact, the Wynford influence is significant. Luke’s father, Lee, is a Wynford graduate and coached there as a varsity assistant during Luke’s formative years.

“I was a ball boy at Wynford up to the fifth grade,” Luke said. “I have a lot of good memories of that gym.”

There is so much in common with his former school that Western Reserve is sort of Wynford North. His Roughriders head coach, Chris Sheldon, is a Wynford alumnus and advised Lee of the teaching opening at Western Reserve seven years ago, which accepted.

“Chris Sheldon was a ball boy when I was a senior (at Wynford) in 1984,” Lee said. “Rob Sheldon was my coach and Dave Sheldon (Colonel Crawford head coach) came after me. We’re kind of an extension of the Sheldon family.”

Lee credited former Wynford coaches Tim Ehresman, Zac Bauer, and Dave Hirschy as being great influences on Luke’s development as a player and scorer.

Once the family arrived in Collins, Luke sensed that he was in a special situation.

“The first week of school, playing on the playground, I told dad, ‘We are going to be good,’” Luke said.

He wasn’t wrong. Luke started playing varsity as a freshman, splitting time between jayvee and varsity early before ending the year as a varsity player. In his first three years, Western Reserve had a 38-4 record in the rugged Firelands Conference and the Roughriders are undefeated in conference this year.

Despite his scoring 1,000 points, there are plenty to go around for teammates in Coach Sheldon’s high-powered offense. The Roughriders are averaging 75.4 points per game this season. Five times they have topped 80 points including 100 against Plymouth.

“We score a lot,” Luke understated.

Scoring points on a basketball court is a Rowlinson tradition. Teneil (Krebs) Lilly, Luke’s sister, scored 1,000 at Wynford and went on to play at Indiana Wesleyan. Her husband, Tyler, scored 1,000 at Mansfield Christian and Teneil’s sister’s husband, Brett Vipperman, scored 1,000 at Mount Vernon Nazarene University.

Lee started the whole Rowlinson scoring thing. He had 1,000 points at Ohio Wesleyan and scored 10,000 while playing professionally in Europe.

Luke did not (at least to date) catch up to his dad’s size, but at 6-foot-4, he is a matchup problem for most teams as a shooting guard. And Luke is planning to play at the next level, hoping to follow in Dad’s footsteps.

“I have an offer from Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids and I’m looking at Mount Vernon Nazarene,” Luke said. “But I’m also looking at Ohio Wesleyan.”

After that, Luke would like to stay in basketball in some form, though he is not planning to become a teacher.

“I don’t think I want to be a teacher,” Luke said. “I plan to major in business and sports management. Coaching at high school or college would be cool.”

He still has high school goals, including another FC championship and win a district title. The Roughriders were upset in the district semifinals last year.

Luke’s advice to young players eager to emulate his success is to get shots up, whether in a gym, in a driveway or at a park.

“It was easier for me,” Luke admitted. “Dad has keys to the gym.”

Luke was a gym rat back to his grade school days at Wynford.

“I had to pull Luke out of the gym,” Lee said.

That commitment paid off and Luke is keeping the Rowlinson scoring legacy alive and well.