Burlington Central's Maisto joins 1,000 club

Burlington Central senior Jordan Maisto would have preferred to not even know how many points she needed to reach 1,000 for her career.

But she did, and the pressure of that, coupled with playing against a team that didn't offer the greatest of competition, had Maisto off her game Thursday night on Rocket Hill.

But in the end, the 4-year varsity guard got it done, scoring on a contested drive down the lane after a steal with 6:05 left in the game to become only the third player in BC girls basketball program history to eclipse the 1,000 point mark for her career. She needed 9 points to reach the milestone, and she scored 10 as the Rockets (15-7, 5-2) rolled to a 66-28 Big Northern East win over Harvard.

In a postgame ceremony, Maisto was presented the game ball by the program's all-time leading scorer Jenna Real, who is now the Rockets' sophomore coach.

"I wish I didn't know how many I needed so I could just play my game," Maisto said. "Unfortunately I was thinking about it the whole time."

Her off night of shooting proved that. Maisto was just 3-for-16 in the game. She had only 2 points at halftime and none in the third quarter as the Rockets' fans patiently held their 1,000 signs out of view. But then she hit a layup 36 seconds into the fourth quarter before making 2 of 3 free throws at the 6:57 mark to bring her career total to 999. Fifty two seconds later, she stole the ball at midcourt and with two Harvard players defending her all the way in, she got the layup to roll in to make it 1,001.

"It was an awkward shot. I didn't think it was going in," said Maisto, who scored just 74 points as a freshman before putting up 300-plus the last three years."

Reaching the plateau allowed Rockets' coach Stephanie Smith to take Maisto out of the game immediately, and the 5-foot-3 all-area standout headed to the bench with a standing ovation.

"Everyone was so great," Maisto said. "I didn't expect any of that. I almost started crying. I definitely couldn't have done it without my teammates, my coaches, and my mom and dad."

Maisto, who is now just 36 points behind Cindy Hilbrich for second place on the school's scoring list, never believed she'd be a 1,000-point scorer, especially after scoring under 100 points her freshman season.

"It's incredible," she said before going back into the gym for more ovations and more photos. "It never even dawned on me. My dad told me at the start of the season I had a chance. I'm just speechless. It's something I'll never forget."

Smith, who also scored over 1,000 points in her high school career, was happy to see her point guard reach the milestone.

"I'm very proud of her,"Smith said. "She definitely deserves to be considered one of the best players ever here. She's a great kid to have on the floor and a great kid to coach. She lays it out on the floor every day. We're very proud of her and having Jenna be able to present her the game ball was nice. I wish Jordan nothing but the best in the future."

As for the game itself, the Rockets also seemed to be caught up in Maisto's pursuit of 1,000. They struggled to shoot just 6 of 20 in the first quarter and 10 of 37 in the first half. But Harvard was only 7 of 25 in the first half and turned the ball over 15 times as the Rockets finally inched out to a 29-17 lead at the break after leading just 15-13 after one quarter.

"I was a little worried in the first quarter," Smith said. "There was a lot of pressure with everything going on. But then the big girls really stepped it up."

That would be the 6-foot tandem of junior Alli Settanni and sophomore Brenda Thasavong, who combined for 34 points as BC turned a close game into a rout.

Thasavong scored 9 of her 13 points in the first half and Settanni 9 of her 21 in the third quarter. They also owned the boards, pulling down 10 each as BC outrebounded Harvard 41-39.

Araceli Munoz added 11 points for the Rockets. Maisto had 5 steals and 3 assists and senior Taylor Colby played her usual steady game with 6 steals, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks.