It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that Bryn Wormley and Mackenzie Reigle are attached at the hip when it comes to the game of basketball.
And it’s only fitting that Wormley on Saturday afternoon joined her “senior sister” as members of the Batavia High varsity girls’ basketball team’s 1,000-point club in a 62-41 victory over host Greece Odyssey.
Entering the Monroe County League Division IV regular season finale, Wormley needed 31 points to hit the milestone.
Her teammates, all in on Coach Marty Hein’s game plan against the winless Lady Leopards, continually fed her the ball in an effort to make it happen before next Tuesday’s Section V Class B1 Tournament opener.
Wormley, launching three-point shots and knifing and twisting her way for driving layups, scored 28 of the Lady Devils’ 47 points after three quarters.
A driving layup at the 5:50 mark of the fourth period put her at 30 and less than a minute later, she calmly swished a foul shot for point number 31 this season and 1,000 for her career.
Both Wormley and Reigle, who scored her 1,000th point on Tuesday of this week, came up to the varsity late in the season as seventh-graders.
“This means a lot to me and it does to Kenzie, too. I think we’re just blessed to be able to play this year, especially with COVID and everything we have missed over the last several months,” Wormley said. “It’s just really nice that we got to do this together because we have been playing together since we picked up a basketball. First time was Buff Rice Camp in third grade.”
Wormley said she was “definitely nervous” but it didn’t look that way as she hit her first two three-pointers to open the scoring. Her outside shooting touch escaped her for a while after that, so she changed her strategy.
“I hit the first two ‘threes’ but the shot wasn’t falling after that so I tried something else – I starting driving to the basket,” she said.
It paid off as she scored 16 points on layups and sank four free throws in the final three quarters. When she and Reigle came out of the game together with 3:30 to play, she had 32 points – twice her season’s average.
Hein, as he did a few nights ago with Reigle, talked about Wormley’s work ethic as a key to her success.
“Bryn works so hard at her shooting, and she’s been such an unselfish player for probably two years previous to last year,” Hein said. "When we had Ryann Stefaniak, Bryn kind of took a back seat instead of pushing her own self. Last year was her breakout year (15.6 points per game average) because it was her time to start doing it.”
Hein also mentioned the manner in which Wormley and Reigle feed off each other on the court.
“You have two girls that have been gym rats ever since they were third-graders and they work well together. There are times when I have to watch film (to see who scored) because Assistant Coach Frank (Gioia) and our scorekeeper can’t tell if it was Kenzie or if it was Bryn because they look so much alike.”
As far as letting Bryn take the majority of shots, Hein said he was worried that there wouldn’t be another game because of COVID-19.
“The Elba boys are done with basketball right now because of COVID. Holley boys are done with basketball because of COVID. I would have just hated for her to get to 996 and, God forbid something happens, and that’s our last game,” he said. “Plus, today is a better situation (instead of it happening in a sectional tournament game). It’s done. She’s got it and nobody can ever take it away.”
With Reigle and now Wormley scoring 1,000 points, there are five Batavia girls' basketball players who have achieved that mark, with Tiara Filbert, Madison McCulley and Stefaniak being the others.
Wormley, who plans to play basketball at St. John Fisher College, said she’s relieved that the quest for 1,000 points is over.
“Now, we can just focus on getting the block (Section V championship trophy),” she said.
Reigle had 12 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and five steals, and Tess Barone chipped in with eight points for Batavia, 8-4. Asia Philip led Odyssey with 15 points.
The Lady Devils will face Greece Olympia at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Batavia High School. This will be their fourth meeting of the season. Batavia has won the previous three, all by 20 points.
Photos: From top, Bryn Wormley shoots the free throw that gave her 1,000 points for her varsity career (submitted photo); Wormley accepts a plaque from Coach Marty Hein; Wormley's mother, Chris, gives the thumbs up as she and Gail Francis celebrate the achievement (photos by Mike Pettinella).
