Flurry of Fox players reach 1,000-point milestone
Before the new year arrived, Fox Valley basketball players seemingly reached a scoring landmark on a daily basis.
Here they are, those 1,000-point scorers all in one tidy package.
Aurora Christian pulled off the feat of having both a girl and a boy reach the milestone.
When junior Anna Griffin hit the mark in a 70-20 win at Westmont on Dec. 13, her 38 points were more than half the Eagles' total. Coach Burney Wilkie said the 6-foot-1 wing not only scored her career high but established a new program record.
Aurora Christian's Taaj Davis did it eight days later in a 78-48 win over St. Francis. As correspondent Chris Walker wrote, the 6-foot-1 senior grabbed a long rebound, ran downcourt and laid the ball in. Play was halted to recognize the deed, and Davis went into the stands to hug his mom. The Eagles' eighth 1,000-point scorer needed 29 points, but got 34.
Aurora Central Catholic senior guard Delani Kosner got it done early, scoring 19 points against Sandwich Nov. 19 at Somonauk. A four-year starter, Kosner averages 16.5 points this season and sits on 1,178 career points. She is poised to surpass Andrea Taylor's program-record 1,238 points set during the 2000-03 seasons - and set to play her next two years at Kirkwood College in Iowa, the No. 1 NJCAA Division 2 team in the nation.
Dec. 6 was a big day. Bartlett's Lexie Sinclair quickly got her 1,000th point out of the way against West Chicago. In the first quarter of the Hawks' 58-24 Upstate Eight Conference win she laced a 3 from the corner, among her 20 points that day. Bartlett coach Joe Eirich believes the junior guard should break into the program's top 10 this season.
Also on Dec. 6, South Elgin senior Megan McClure joined the club. Storm coach Dan Mandernack said McClure is the program's all-time 3-point leader, but in a 76-36 win over Larkin she passed up an open 3 to find a teammate for a better shot. The North Central College commit was quickly rewarded after grabbing an offensive rebound and hitting a short shot to reach 1,000 points.
The Daily Herald's John Lemon reported that the game was stopped, Storm teammates unfurled a banner commemorating the occasion, and McClure got photos with them and with her father, Don, an assistant coach.
The next day, Dec. 7, versatile Geneva senior Lindsay Blackmore became the Vikings' 11th girl to reach 1,000 points, in a 63-38 home win over Wheaton Warrenville South. A free throw did it.
Streamwood girls coach George Rosner, an Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame member, said Mandy Mien's 1,000th point Dec. 10 at East Aurora was "nothing special, just her typical driving layup." The senior guard is the Sabres' seventh all-time scorer - and career assists leader - with 1,145 points entering Tuesday's game with Fenton. Rosner takes 451 wins into that game, by the way.
The stage was set Dec. 13 for senior Maddy Martin of Harvest Christian - hosting Northeastern Athletic Conference foe Schaumburg Christian in front of a huge crowd assembled for the Lions' annual "silent night" game. Martin needed to score 30 points to reach 1,000. Late in the fourth quarter of Harvest Christian's 67-46 victory, she hit it on the nose.
Cary-Grove senior guard Beau Frericks, headed to Lewis University, led all scorers at Jacobs' Hinkle Holiday Classic. Beforehand, on Dec. 14 he nicked 1,000 points in the Trojans' 61-38 victory at Dundee-Crown. Points Nos. 1,000-1,001 came on a pullup jumper off the dribble - "probably his signature shot," said Cary-Grove coach Adam McCloud.
Larkin's Brianna Young, a four-year starting guard-forward, reached exactly 1,000 points in the Royals' game against Glenbard South on Dec. 16.
At Rockford Boylan's Reindeer Games, Burlington Central junior guard Elana Wells needed 25 points in her second game of Dec. 28 to reach the mark, against the No. 1 team in Class 1A, Eastland-Pearl City. She sailed along with 23 through three quarters - then was blanked the fourth. The 1,000 point gods smiled upon her, sending the game into overtime. Wells passed the mark from the foul line, whereupon Rockets coach Collin Kalamatas took timeout to acknowledge Wells' accomplishment.
"We went on to win the game 71-64 and eventually win the Boylan Christmas tournament, where Elana would be named MVP," he said.
Dec. 30 saw two returning All-Area players reach 1,000 points for their career - Batavia senior guard Erin Golden at Montini's holiday tournament in a loss to Fremd; and Hampshire junior guard Kelby Bannerman, in a loss to Buffalo Grove at Dundee-Crown's Komaromy Classic.
Welcome to the club.
doberhelman@dailyherald.com
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