I’m not sure what kind of gifts Hollis Hale’s family and friends got him for his birthday yesterday, but he gave himself a nice gift, putting up a 41-piece to celebrate his 41st birthday.

Hale shot 16-33 from the field and 9-24 from deep in the high-scoring effort, helping Easy Go Travelers beat Hickory Huskers 120-93. He added eight rebounds and nine assists to almost seal a triple-double.

The real gift may have come from Summerlin league coordinator, L.C. Comine, as he scheduled the Hickory Huskers to play the second game of a back-to-back against Easy Go Travelers. It’s tough enough for any team to be able to contain Hale’s 26.9 career points per game in vet leagues, but it becomes even tougher to do when you have to play directly after a 15-point loss.

This is the highest-scoring game for Hale since Week 4 of the summer season in the Summerlin Vet League, which ironically came in a back-to-back for the Easy Go Travelers. He scored 53 points in a 136-83 win over Superdry, and followed it up with a 48-point performance in a 113-58 win over BAR.

Hale’s golden birthday came when he was 24, but scoring your age may be a way to have multiple golden birthdays as you get older. We’ll see if he’ll be able to put up 42 on October 24, 2020.