NATRONA HEIGHTS — Michael Connelly has knocked down plenty of free throws in his illustrious career at St. Joseph.

When the Butler native sank one from the charity stripe in a Jan. 27 game against Clairton, it was a little more meaningful.

At the time, Connelly wasn’t exactly sure why his home fans reacted so fondly to just another foul shot.

They had good reason.

It was Connelly’s 1,000th career point at St. Joseph — not that he was keeping track.

“I didn’t want to know,” said Connelly. “I’d rather just let it happen when it happened.”

Unlike Connelly, St. Joseph coach Kelly Robinson was keeping tabs and his team captain quickly put the pieces together.

“The crowd was louder than usual and he didn’t really know until he looked over and saw us coming over,” said Robinson. “That’s when he knew.”

Connelly is averaging roughly 22 points per game for St. Joseph (10-10, 5-4 Section 4-A) this year, playing an instrumental role in a WPIAL Class A playoff berth for the Spartans.

St. Joseph will close the regular season Friday against Leechburg.

Robinson acknowledges the Spartans would be a completely different team without Connelly, but it’s not just because of his valuable skill set.

“He’s been such a great team leader,” said Robinson of Connelly. “In 13 years, I’ve had a lot of great teams come through here.

“Some of them didn’t need a leader. This is one of those years when we needed a leader,” Robinson added. “We had two or three guys starting without much varsity experience. (Connelly) stepped up and he’s been phenomenal.”

Connelly has been hurting opposing defenses in a variety of ways. At 6-foot-3, he can drive to the basket, hit a pull-up jumper or deliver from 3-point range.

“He’s very versatile. We play him at every position,” said Robinson. “He’s generally our shooting guard, but he can run the point and play in the post.”

Connelly is the eighth Spartan during Robinson’s 13-year tenure to rack up 1,000 career points.

“It’s definitely an honor to have your name with the greats in our school,” Connelly said.

The 1,000-point club is an individual accomplishment, but Connelly knows the feat wasn’t possible without his teammates.

“I defintely couldn’t have done it without them,” he said. “It’s a team sport. They get me the ball where I need it.”

Two of his teammates — senior Josh Dymun and sophomore Chris Gamble — are also from Butler.

Both provide important minutes for the Spartans as each averages seven or eight points per game.

Gamble is a strong 3-point shooter and leads the team in steals after earning his way into the starting rotation.

“He’s definitely improved, getting used to the varsity game,” said Connelly of Gamble. “He’s starting to play well for us and we’ve definitely needed him. He’s been a big help.”

Connelly also praised Dymun for anchoring St. Joseph in the post.

“He’s been playing real tough. He gets big rebounds and he’s been playing good defense the whole season,” Connelly said. “He’s steady underneath.”

Connelly has been a four-year starter at St. Joseph, but reaching the 1,000-point mark wasn’t a sure thing. A broken collarbone cut his freshman season short and a sprained ankle forced him to miss the first half of section play as a junior.

“It’s always tough to be sitting on the bench helpless,” Connelly said. “You do all you can to support the team, but as a competitor, it’s tough.”

His competitive nature will help beyond high school.

The senior intends to continue his athletic career in college. He’s leaning toward either Pitt-Greensburg or Penn State Behrend.

But first, with the help of Dymun and Gamble, Connelly would like to take the Spartans on a run in the WPIAL playoffs.

“If we get hot, anything can happen,” he said.