Bay Basketball Greats Celebrate Rocket Scoring Record

Bay High head coach Jared Shetzer, Steve Stoyko and John Koz.

It has been a great basketball season for Bay High senior John Koz.

Not only has the 6-3 senior forward led the team to a Great Lakes Conference championship, Koz also etched his name into the Bay High record books by setting a career scoring mark.

Koz scored 24 points in an 80-57 win over Lutheran West two weeks ago, moving past the career record mark of 1114 points set by former Bay great Steve Stoyko in the 1983-84 season.

John Koz goes up for two points in a win over Elyria Catholic.

Koz finished the Lutheran West game with 1118 career points and has added to the total since. He has two regular season games left with the 19-3 Rockets and also the post season tournament campaign to add to his totals.

In a fitting tribute to breaking the school record, Koz was met by Stoyko in a visit with the team last week. Stoyko, a 6-9 center, was central to Bay’s great teams of the mid-80’s under legendary coach Rich Voiers.

Stoyko and Bill Toole were mainstays of the squad that dominated Southwestern Conference play in those years, lodging SWC title runs and advancing deep into the playoffs. It was an era when Bay played ‘above the rim.’

For Koz, the season evidences his heart of a competitor. The two-sport star lost most of his senior season as quarterback for the football team after suffering an early-season shoulder injury last fall. But he has come on strong this basketball season, responding to personal adversity in championship style.