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Heise scores 1,000th career point in Hilton win

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Hilton’s Mallory Heise finished with a game-high 28 including the 1,000th point of her career in the Cadets’ 70-45 win over Churchville-Chili, Tuesday night. (Photo: LAURA ACCIAIO)

By PAUL GOTHAM

HILTON, N.Y. — Mallory Heise isn’t one for tears, but when teammates rushed the court to celebrate her career milestone, the Hilton Cadet had reason to pause.

Heise buried a 3-pointer from the left wing late in the third quarter of Tuesday’s game. With that she passed the 1,000-point mark for her career.

“When I saw them all run toward me, it got me,” the junior guard said. “I don’t like to say this, but I was about to cry. It got me tearing up a little bit.”

Needing 27 points at the beginning of the game to reach the milestone, Heise finished the night with a game-high 28 in Hilton’s 70-45 win over Churchville-Chili.

“In a way it’s a relief, but it’s really a tribute to all the work I’ve put in and all the support I have around me,” Heise said. “This community here is incredible.”

Teammate Ella Simonelli set up Heise for the bucket.

“We wanted to get her the ball whenever she was open,” Simonelli said.

Ava Heise (cousin) stepped to the line for two free throws. The sophomore guard connected on her first attempt, but the second found iron and kicked to the left side of the basket.

Simonelli was there for the rebound. Heise cut to the ball-side wing.

“I saw her moving to the three-point line,” said Simonelli. “I got the rebound, and I had to give it to her.”

The triple was the second on the night for Heise who connected 10 times from the floor in the contest and converted 3-of-4 from the free-throw line.

“It was a great rebound and a great pass from Ella,” Heise said. “I knew it was coming. I didn’t know it would be that shot. I had in my mind to keep shooting, wait for it to fall and eventually one of them will be the one.”

Hilton immediately called for a timeout, and a swarm of Cadets surrounded their teammate.

“It feels amazing,” Heise said. “I’ve learned so much from all the girls I’ve played with and all the coaches. It’s been so much fun. I’m so happy that this team and everybody got to celebrate it with me.”

Heise becomes the third student-athlete in the Hilton girls’ basketball program to score 1,000 or more points. She joins Cameron Graupman and Kristen Clark.

“The best part about it is she’s gone about things the right way,” said Hilton head coach and Mallory’s uncle, Dave Heise. “All the accolades and accomplishments, she’s so deserving of them. A lot of times, you might see scorers that are selfish in nature. She’s just never been that way.”

The elder Heise reached the 1,000-point club during his senior season at Hilton in 1993.

“She’s always been the consummate point guard. That’s what is most fun for me. Watching a kid truly earn it and deserve it.”

Trailing 7-2 early in the first quarter, Heise scored seven as the Cadets grabbed a lead they did not surrender at 15-10 after the first eight minutes of play.

She added nine more in the second, and Ella Clark accounted for six in the frame as Hilton built a 38-18 advantage heading into halftime.

The win gave Hilton (4-1) back-to-back victories. The Cadets opened the season with a win over Canandaigua – a team that returns three starters from a NYSPHSAA Class A finalist in 2022-23. They dropped a 55-53 decision at Liverpool – a Class AA semifinalist in 2022-23. Hilton has also beaten St. Mary’s from the Monsignor Martin Athletic Association in Buffalo.

“Now we can go play,” Dave Heise said. “We scheduled hard. I put us on the road. We’re chasing bigger things. We’re trying to make some noise in our section. We’ll see. Our league is awesome. It’s fun every night.”

Clark had 17 points in the win. Elena Graziano contributed seven.

Graupman is the Hilton girls’ all-time leading scorer with 1,557 points.

Layla Jackson and Emma Healy led Churchville-Chili (1-4) with nine points apiece. Erin Marone had eight points.

The Saints are under the direction of first-year head coach Steve Shepanski. Shepanski guided Rush-Henrietta and former WNBA star Shenise Johnson to three consecutive state titles from 2006 to 2008. The Royal Comets later returned to the state finals in 2015.

He stepped away from the R-H job in 2015 and had been the junior varsity coach at Churchville for seven years before taking over varsity this season.

“I left Rush In 2015 to watch my daughter play at Churchville,” he said. “I got a chance to coach her at the junior varsity level. I got a chance to watch her at the varsity level. I kinda stuck with it. Lo and behold, here I am at the varsity level.”

The Saints opened the season with a win over Irondequoit.

“A lot of these girls are from junior varsity from last year. A lot of this pace and experience is stuff we’ll take going forward. We’re going to pay our dues this year, but we’re going to work hard and try and overcome those things. They’re a pretty upbeat group of girls. We’ll get better.”

CHURCHVILLE-CHILI
Mercy Payne 1 0-0 3, Ava Briggs 1 0-0 2, Layla Jackson 3 3-7 9, Ava Donaghue 1 0-0 2, Bianca LiBritz 2 1-1 5, Haley Leonard 1 0-2 3, Emma Healy 3 2-2 9, Alexi Finnigan 1 2-4 4, Erin Marone 4 0-0 8 TOTALS 16 8-16 45

HILTON
Elena Graziano 3 0-0 7, Ava Heise 0 4-6 4, Mallory Heise 11 3-4 28, Sydney Lenhard 0 2-2 2, Ella Simonelli 0 2-2 2, Leah Thompson 1 2-2 4, Ella Clark 7 2-5 17, Maddie Murphy 2 0-0 4, Megan Marean 2 0-0 4 TOTALS 25 15-21 70

CHURCHVILLE-CHILI 10-8-16-11 — 45
HILTON 15 23 22 10 — 70

3-point goals — Churchville-Chili 3 (Payne, Leonard, Healy); Hilton 4 (Graziano 1, Heise 2, Clark 1)

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  1. Michael Heise says

    Thank you for your Hilton coverage and this article on my daughter. It meant a great deal. Have a great Christmas!

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