A thousand points is a rare feat in high school basketball, but one more player joined that prestigious club.
Notre Dame senior Mel Taylor notched her 1,000th career point in a 61-35 victory over Elba.
Taylor scored 10 of her 16 points in the first quarter as the Irish led 16-9 to end the first quarter, but foul trouble limited her playing time in the second quarter. However, sophomore Shea Norton picked up the slack, scoring 12 points in the frame to give Notre Dame an 11-point lead heading into halftime.
Coming out of the break, Notre Dame held Elba without a field goal until just over two minutes left in the third quarter, enabling to push their to 21 points after Emma Francis knocked down a three as time expired in the quarter.
It wouldn’t take Taylor long to reach the 1,000-point plateau, as she drained a three-pointer just 31 seconds into the fourth quarter.
“It’s been a dream of mine since I was in third grade as a ball girl,” Taylor said. “It’s been a goal of mine; I almost cried. It was like a calculator on my shoulders that I could finally get off.”
Taylor, who was named MVP of the state tournament last year, has been a two-time Genesee Region League All-Star and is in her fourth year of varsity basketball. She also had four steals and three assists in the game.
“Mel has come a long way, she’s really come into her own,” said Notre Dame Head Coach Dave Pero. “She’s scored 1,000 points but she really plays unselfish. She makes sure her teammates get the ball when they have to. She really brings a lot to the table for us.”
Notre Dame (2-0) dominated the game on the boards, out-rebounding Elba 51-28 for the game, led by Norton, who pulled down 14 rebounds to go along with her game-high 17 points.
“Anytime we come to Elba we know we are going to have our hands full,” Pero said. “Our second half defense got us where we wanted to be. Elba is not to be taken lightly. They’re a good team and they will be a good team down the road.”
Francis chipped in nine points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals, while Laurie Call added 11 rebounds, five assists and four steals.
The 25-point loss is largest margin of defeat for Elba since Notre Dame beat them by 16 back in the 2008-2009 season.
Alyssa Bogue paced the Lancers (2-1) with 10 points and six rebounds, while Haley Brown added 10 points.
