You look around the gym and there they are, shaking their head, rolling their eyes in disbelief. Did Garret Johnson just do that?

Well, yeah.

Just ask his coach.

“With him on the floor you get to see some amazing things that you don’t usually see in a high school basketball game, him going all Dr. J between two defenders, then coming out on the other side, scoring the basketball,” says Holdrege High head boys basketball coach Brandt Runge. He’s talking about Garret Johnson, Holdrege High’s all-time leading scorer, with 1,294 points to his credit, and counting. “For all the attention he gets Garret is still a light hearted kid, a quiet kid who likes to joke around, though he doesn’t like to be the center of attention. Which might seem strange to some people since he is just that when he’s playing in front of 1,500 people.

Garret was playing in front of another huge home crowd back on Dec. 6, in the second game of the regular season against Broken Bow, when he realized what had only here lately become a major goal in his career - breaking the school’s career basketball scoring record.

“It was a great feeling, knowing that all my hard work paid off, and continues to pay off,” says Garret, who is a 6-foot-3, 175-pound combo guard for the Dusters. It sure has, as he’s averaging 28.4 points per game so far this season - he got 26 that night against Broken Bow. “It’s a lot of points when you think about it, and the record means so much because we have had so many great players go through our school.”

Garret got involved in basketball back in kindergarten, but at first he was more of a football player. It wasn’t until seventh grade he saw basketball as his brightest star in his athletic universe as his interest in football waned. “Part of it was our school plays good basketball and I wanted to specialize in that sport so I could become as good as I could,” he remembers. Turns out that’s pretty good.

Born in Kearney, Garret has an older sister, a younger brother and a younger sister, the two youngest jocks like him, “but my oldest sister is the smart one,” he tells you. Clearly he spends a lot of time on his basketball - most all-time scoring champions do that sort of thing - but Garret also finds time to mix in some golf, “and I am getting better,” he says, adding he plays almost exclusively at that very nice Holdrege Country Club.

Kid’s a brilliant student, too, with a 3.8 GPA to his credit, with American History his favorite course, “because I like learning about the past, and what was.” He is an active member of the local chapter of Fellowship of Christian Athletes, with plain ol’ mac and cheese his favorite food. “No need to mess with it, I like it plain.” He’s a big fan of the series TV series Yellowstone and of the movie Forrest Gump - figures, as trying to guard him is like a box of chocolates, you never know what he’s got - and his musical taste is admittedly random, telling you if the song is good, it’s good, and he likes it. Fair enough.

Garret will be attending Concordia University in Seward, playing basketball and trying to establish his study major, which is sorta up in the air right about now but he’d like to stay close to athletics, so maybe physical therapy is an option. Stay tuned.

It’s easy to get caught up in all the greatness surrounding Garret’s record but his team is also playing pretty great basketball, having won four of its first five games entering tonight’s match at Gothenburg, an old Southwest Conference friend.

“There is always room for improvement but we play very well together, we know our roles and what to expect from each other, and that makes playing the game a lot easier, and more fun,” says Garret. (You’d also believe having a 28 point scorer in the lineup also lightens the mood.) As for himself, the scoring part seems to be going just fine but Garret is always striving to be a better defender and rebounder, making sure he’s the complete player every time on the court.

Getting to the state tournament, something Holdrege High hasn’t accomplished since 2011, is the ultimate goal but Garret also finds a lot of satisfaction in playing games for his high school, and his town.

“The best part of high school basketball is the chance to play for your town. The support we get is unbelievable and we appreciate that so much,” says Garret. “Our plan is to always go out there and give them something to watch.”