Jax Wilson, who committed to Calvin, set the Sparta scoring record by just one point

Sparta senior Jax Wilson passes the ball at the Cornerstone Holiday Tournament. He averaged 24.8 points per game this season. (Photo | Lenny Padilla).

SPARTA, Mich. - The final game of Jax Wilson’s high school career was bittersweet.

His Sparta High School basketball team lost to Fremont 57-55 on March 10 in a Division 2 district title game. That was the bad part. 

But he would end up setting the school scoring record - by a single point.

“I knew I was 21 short,” Wilson said. “And I finished with 22 points. Unfortunately we lost to a team (Fremont) we would beat 9 out of 10 times.”

The loss hurt and Wilson took his time to emerge from the locker room.

“I spent a lot of time in the locker room after the game,” he said. “I took me a minute to get over (the loss). As I went out, some people were saying ‘tough loss’, and the others are like ‘congrats, you did it!’”

Wilson set the record of 1,338 to pass Jimmy Cochran’s 1,337 by one point. 

His big season led to attention from college coaches. On Thursday, the 6-foot-1, 155-pound guard announced he has committed to play at Calvin University next season.

“Originally, Calvin wasn’t on my radar,” Wilson said. “But Coach (Bill) Sall was at the game when I got 1,000 (career) points. They showed a lot of interest in me and had a coach at all of my games after that. I took a visit and the facilities were amazing.”

Wilson finished the season averaging 24.8 points per game, including a high of 44 against Whitehall. He also set the Sparta single-season scoring record with 593 points.

“It’s pretty incredible,” he said of the records. “A lot of guys have played a Sparta. It is something I’ll be able to tell my kids about. Something I’ll have for the rest of my life.”

Sparta’s Jax Wilson runs through a drill during a practice in January. He committed to play basketball at Calvin University. (Photo | Lenny Padilla).