By PAUL GOTHAM
MENDON, N.Y. — Lexi Green hoped to avoid scoring her first points of the night at the free throw line.
The Pittsford Mendon junior didn’t get her wish.
With 6:52 remaining in the second quarter, Green calmly swished a pair of shots from the charity stripe – career points 999, and 1,000.
“That was the one thing I didn’t want,” Green said smiling. “I was like please don’t make it be free throws, but it ended up working out obviously.”
With the career milestone reached, Green went to score 10 more points before halftime.
“I was thinking I gotta hit these and get it over with,” she said of the free throws.
A member of the varsity squad since her eighth-grade year, Green became the 10th player in Mendon girls’ program history to reach the mark.
“It’s obviously a great high school milestone,” Mendon head coach Todd Julien said. “It’s really rewarding to have Lexi get it. Our program has been really strong, so we don’t bring that many kids up young. You really have to have a long career to get that number.”
Lexi Green converts a pair from the free throw line to reach the 1,000-point plateau for her career and to give @mendonGVBB a 16-2 lead. pic.twitter.com/N2GK58XPW9
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) February 5, 2020
Green is the first Lady Vikings to top a grand since Shelby Fogarty did it nearly a decade ago.
“It’s speaks to her, and it speaks to the program a little bit because we’ve gone on deep runs,” said Julien referring to Mendon’s NYS Class A and Federation championship last season as well as reaching the state final in 2017. “She’s also getting all those extra games. We had almost 30 games last year. Nine game plus the regular season. That’s helped as well. On the other side of that coin, she’s part of the reason why we’re making those deep runs.”
Mendon (No. 9 NYSSWA Class A) celebrated senior night prior to Tuesday’s game. Green did not enter the contest until the second quarter. She received three passes on the first possession of the stanza but chose to not shoot.
“It wasn’t there, gotta work for the best shot,” she said grinning. “Maybe I was a little nervous. Let’s be honest.”
Nerves calmed, she connected four times from the floor including a 3-pointer before halftime.
Lexi Green grabs the rebound and finishes with the scoop. @mendonGVBB pic.twitter.com/UM3pkjfmOG
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) February 5, 2020
Green and teammate Katie Bischoping shared game-high honors scoring 17 apiece in the 69-22 win over Rush-Henrietta.
The victory was the fifth straight for Mendon (14-3). Included in those is a 47-43 win at Jamesville-Dewitt, ranked No. 21 NYS Class A.
Katie Bischoping connects on ☝️ of her ✋triples. pic.twitter.com/6BrTok1ff3
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) February 5, 2020
Mendon’s three setbacks have all come to state-ranked squads: 60-62 to No. 2 NYSSWA Class A Williamsville-South, 51-53 to No. 3 Class A Maine-Endwell and 54-60 to No. 13 Class AA Penfield.
“We’ve taken a couple close ones on the chin, to really good teams,” Julien noted. “I thank those teams that we lost to. They showed where we’re not good enough, and that’s what we’ve been trying to improve on. There’s nothing wrong with taking losses to good teams.”
Four of their five wins in the current streak have been by double digits.
“It’s awesome,” Green said of the streak. “We had a good game against Jamesville-Dewitt, and that really helped us get to where we need to be the rest of the season. Our defense came together, and the offense came together. We are working together really well right now.”
Katie Bischoping connects on ☝️ of her ✋triples. pic.twitter.com/6BrTok1ff3
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) February 5, 2020
Anaya Coleman and Sydney Gordon added six points apiece for Mendon. Kira Niemi and Bridget Miller both scored five points. Eliza Ryan had four. Hailey Giordano (3), Kacie Mooney (2) and Ellen Henry (2) rounded out the scoring for the Lady Vikings.
Sydney Gordon nails the free-throw line jumper to give @mendonGVBB an early 6-0 lead. pic.twitter.com/GQ2JYN0sIj
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) February 5, 2020
Kaila Herring paced Rush-Henrietta with eight points. Logan Taylor added five points for the Royal Comets. Avery Roberts had three pints. Alexandra Garrett, Cassidy Pearce and Sophia Tirabassi scored two apiece.
R-H travels to play Victor on Friday.
Along with Fogarty, Green also joins Lindsay Bartholf, Danielle Bleeker, Missy Dugan, Kaelyn Gibson, Carly Napier, Alicia Sheeler, Eve Walters and Jackie Ward on Mendon’s 1,000-point club.
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