For a quarter-century, Chautauqua County’s all-time leading scorer was Maceo Wofford. Tuesday night, on an electrifying slam dunk in front of a buzzing hometown crowd, that title was passed on to Carson Swanson.

Swanson passed Wofford’s all-time scoring record of 2,258 career points Tuesday, and he did so on Senior Night at Westfield Academy.

The 87-42 Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 2 win over the Brocton Bulldogs was nice, too.

The Wolverines (17-2, 10-1) defeated the Brocton Bulldogs 87-42 in a Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Division 2 game.

Swanson is pictured with referee Maceo Wofford, whose record he broke. OBSERVER photo by Jason Bower

“I’m so proud of that kid. He is so humble. He’s so clean with how he plays basketball,” Nolan Swanson, his father and head coach, said after the game. “He’s a role model.”

Oh, and for good measure, Swanson not only scored 39 points in the victory — he also set a school record with 16 assists in a game.

Swanson entered Tuesday tied with Fredonia legend Mike Heary with 2,235 career points after a 31-point performance against Chautauqua Lake on Friday. He needed 24 points on Tuesday to pass Wofford’s career mark.

It didn’t even take him until halftime.

After back-to-back 3-pointers from well beyond the arc in the final minute of the first quarter gave Carson Swanson 13 points and Westfield (17-2, 10-1) a 25-11 lead, the countdown was on. Three more 3-pointers in the second quarter pulled him to within 2 points of the record.

Pictured is the Swanson family, from left: Darien, Amy, Carson, Nolan and Braylon after Carson became the all-time leading scorer in Chautauqua County boys basketball history Tuesday evening at Westfield Academy & Central School. In backgroun is Mel Swanson, Carson’s grandpa. P-J photo by Jason Bower

“He got really hot there. It hasn’t been that kind of a season for him with a heat streak from 3-point range,” Nolan Swanson said. “The constant high double teams don’t let him get that many off sometimes. It was nice to see him hit a few.”

Carson Swanson was then fouled on a layup attempt. He stepped to the line with a chance to tie and then break the record. But surprisingly, the leading scorer in all of Section VI missed both free throws. At that point, he didn’t even realize he had history on the line.

“He took a real hard shot on that foul. Maybe he didn’t quite recover for the free throws,” Nolan Swanson said.

For possibly the only time in his career, two missed free throws might have been a good thing. It all worked out perfectly.

Just a few moments later, Carson Swanson gathered the ball in transition, eluded a defender by dribbling the ball behind his back, and took off toward the basket. He gathered the ball in his right hand, jumped off his left foot, and used both hands to throw it down for the record-setting slam.

Carson Swanson Westfield 2,274 Points

As Carson Swanson soared into the history books, his younger brother, Braylon, jumped in the air just a few feet behind him in celebration. Watching it back after the game, his father, Nolan, had tears in his eyes.

“Braylon, obviously, looks up to his big brother, even though he’d never say that. They will probably be in a serious wrestling match as soon as I get home,” Nolan Swanson joked. “But that was pretty neat.”

The ball fell through the net with 1:17 left in the second quarter to give Westfield a 42-20 lead before the referees, including Wofford, halted play. Wofford then congratulated the young man he just watched surpass his all-time mark.

Wofford, the record holder until Tuesday night, is a former Jamestown High School star who then played at Iona College. He was inducted into the Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame in 2017.

Wofford began officiating high school basketball games across Western New York just a few years ago. As luck would have it, he was assigned to Westfield on Tuesday without trying to request it ahead of time. Once he knew what was at stake, he had no interest in passing up the assignment.

Maceo Wofford Jamestown 2,258 Points

“I’m glad I was here,” Wofford said after the game.

Wofford had anything but hard feelings that his record was broken.

“To be part of this history — him to break it and me be a part of it — it is so meaningful to me,” Wofford said with a smile. “Records are made to be broken. … I’m grateful to be a part of it.”

It’s fitting that Wofford passes the torch to Swanson, an athlete who knows better than most the significance of the county’s greatest honors.

“I’ve worked on this for basically half my life. I’m going to celebrate tonight, especially with my family,” Carson Swanson said after the game. “I’m definitely going to enjoy it. I’m really thankful for everyone on my team for letting me do this. I’m just thankful for everyone along the way, especially my parents.”

Mike Heary Fredonia 2,235 Points

Swanson’s parents, Nolan and Amy, are both in the Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame.

Nolan Swanson, who has coached Carson his entire varsity basketball career, was one of the county’s greatest athletes in his own time. He won the cross country state championship in 1993, then moved on to Wake Forest where he became a conference champion and an NCAA All-American in 1997. He was inducted into the Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame in 2003.

His mother, Amy (King) Swanson, graduated as not only the leading scorer at Clymer High School, but also at Daemen College, where her career continued to blossom. She graduated with 15 women’s basketball records at Daemen, including points (1,912), assists (638) and steals (647).

The lineage doesn’t stop at just his parents. Carson’s grandfather, Mel Swanson, is a Hall of Famer, too, inducted in 2015 for his efforts as a varsity girls basketball coach at Sherman High School. Carson’s older brother, Darien, was the leading scorer on the Section VI championship-winning team that earned Carson his first blue patch. Darien Swanson was a first-team all-state selection and became a college athlete himself with Mercyhurst’s golf program.

“It’s definitely amazing. I was always taught just to work hard,” Carson Swanson said. “There is a standard of athletics in our family. For me to go out there and do it alongside them is just amazing.”

Carson Swanson had help with him on Tuesday. The Wolverines managed 87 points as a team, including 27 points and 12 rebounds from Zach Maguire, who also celebrated his Senior Night. Maguire was the beneficiary of many of Swanson’s assists, especially early in the contest.

“He’s an incredible passer. He’s got court vision at 100 out of 100,” Nolan Swanson said of his son. “His game has elevated that way as a senior. He’s always been a good passer, but this year, he’s seeing everything.”

Brocton (5-13, 2-10) was led by Michael Garcia with 25 points — 10 of which came in the fourth quarter. The Wolverines led 70-30 entering the final period.

Westfield honored five seniors: Swanson, Maguire, Mason Whitesell, Jackson Stellhorn and Matthew Schuster. Schuster hit a 3-pointer in the first quarter, while Stellhorn brought the crowd to its feet with a layup high off the glass in the fourth quarter. Also included in the Senior Night festivities were Eva Gnadzinski, the team’s bookkeeper, and Gianna Douglas, who sang the national anthem.

Moving forward, Westfield has one game left in the regular season — at Sherman on Monday night — before the Section VI playoffs begin. Westfield currently sits as the No. 4 seed in Class C. The Wolverines suffered a one-point loss to Panama on Jan. 30, which was the one and only loss since the season-opening defeat, 68-65, against Erie First Christian Academy.

Individually, Carson Swanson now sets his sights on two more scoring marks, beginning with the Section VI record of 2,376 points, held by Dominick Welch of Cheektowaga. The all-time record for any Western New York high school scorer is held by Timon’s Jaiden Harrison, exactly 100 points beyond Welch’s mark.

“Those numbers, at this point, are just a cherry on top of his career,” Nolan Swanson said.

BROCTON (42)

Gustafson 0 0 0, Gatto 3 1 7, Walker 0 0 0, Miller 0 0 0, Garcia 10 2 25, Laurito 2 0 4, Weisner 2 0 4, Cruz 0 0 0, Mitchell 1 0 2. Totals 18 3 42.

WESTFIELD (87)

Paddock 0 0 0, BSwanson 4 0 8, Whitesell 0 0 0, Stein 0 0 0, Maguire 11 0 27, CSwanson 16 2 37, Thomas 0 0 0, Anderson 0 0 0, Stellhorn 1 0 2, Schuster 1 0 3, Tunison 0 0 0, Beadle 3 2 8. Totals 36 4 87.

3-point goals–Garcia 3, Maguire 5, CSwanson 5, Schuster.

Brocton 11 11 8 12 — 42

Westfield 25 20 25 17 — 87

Chris Secky Maple Grove 2,067 Points

Devin Pope Chautauqua Lake 2,023 Points