Ayden McDonald becomes Hibbing’s 1st to tally 1,000 career assists

The McDonald name is written under column upon column in the Hibbing High School basketball record books. Then on Tuesday night Ayden McDonald penned two more lines after scoring a program best game-high 50 points and becoming the first Bluejacket to tally 1,000 career assists.

"It was definitely a great night last night to be able to get those two assists right away," the senior guard said recalling the moment Wednesday afternoon. "Then my teammates were finding me really well, they passed really well to me. I didn’t have a ton of points off the dribble so it was a credit to them to be able to find me and put me in that position to get those baskets and get to those 50 points."

McDonald added that passing is "at his core." According to the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) he is now just the eighth boys basketball player in Minnesota history to tally 1,000 assists.

In that group is Bjorn Broman of Lakeview Christian Academy, and Ely’s Mark Heiman who currently holds the all-time record with 1,274 set in 2014.