By Chris Bennett
Sports Correspondent
It’s not often that history is made at a high school basketball game in late January, but it’s even less frequent that a player exceeds 1,000 points scored in her high school career.
Madison Blair of the Waterford High School girls basketball team scored the 1,000th point of her high school career Jan. 30 in the Wolverines 53-45 home victory against Southern Lakes Conference foe Wilmot.
Blair, a senior, started the game against Wilmot with 996 career points. She hit a three-point field goal and another two-point field goal in the first quarter, and those five points put her at 1,001.
“At the next dead ball the game stopped, and the announcer let everyone in the stands know that with that last bucket she surpassed the 1,000 point mark,” Wolverines coach Dena Brechtl said. “Everyone in the crowd stood up and recognized Madison for this amazing accomplishment.
“On behalf of Waterford Union High School, her teammates and the coaching staff, we are all so proud of Madison for accomplishing this.”
Blair finished with 11 points, and added 12 rebounds and five blocks, and now has 1,007 career points. Stephanie Rank in 2012 is the last Waterford player before Blair to surpass 1,000 points.
Rae Lin D’Alie surpassed 1,000 points in 2006, and Joanie (Chart) Stiewe did so in 1987. Beth (Greil) Letto in 1985 is the first player in Waterford girls basketball history to score more than 1,000 points.
Letto is Waterford’s career scoring leader (1,154). Rank is second (1,151) and Stiewe third (1,105). Blair is fourth and D’Alie fifth (1,003).
Blair is the daughter of Waterford Athletic Director Mike Blair, who said his daughter will likely play basketball in college but does not yet know where.
Through the game against Wilmot, Blair has started 70 of a possible 84 games in her time at Waterford. Brechtl said Madison Blair and her teammates opened strong against Wilmot.
“The game was close in the first quarter, but we were strong from the beginning,” Brechtl said. “Tiffany Stiewe had a great first quarter for us, attacking the rim early and getting to the free throw line. That was huge, and we needed it.”
Waterford and Wilmot played to a 13-13 tie at the end of the first quarter, and the Wolverines outscored the Panthers 19-9 in the second quarter and led 32-22 at halftime.
“Many girls stepped up the defensive intensity and made the game difficult on Wilmot,” Brechtl said. “From there, we held a nice lead until the fourth quarter, when they started to fight back.”
Brechtl said the Wolverines nearly squandered an eight-point lead, but stemmed the Wilmot tide and won the game at the foul line in the fourth quarter. Waterford finished 13 of 18 at the foul line.
“There were a few times in the fourth quarter we made a couple of poor decisions, mainly due to fatigue, but the team fought through and found ways to get the job done,” Brechtl said. “Having seniors on the floor was definitely to our advantage, as they found a way to fight to the end. I was very proud of them.”
Brechtl said Jenna Bouffiou played well. Bouffiou finished with 13 points, 12 rebounds, five steals, three assists and two blocks.
“She was very composed the whole game, and was truly a leader for us,” Brechtl said. “Wilmot likes to pressure, and Jenna and Madison really kept themselves composed most of the game as we beat the pressure.”
Brechtl said Hannah Duerst and Shauna Malchine played well and “did a lot of the dirty work on defense, forcing Wilmot to shoot many long, challenged shots.”
Waterford played Tuesday in a SLC game at Delavan-Darien (2-13, 0-10 SLC). The Wolverines play tonight in a SLC game at Elkhorn (2-16, 2-8 SLC).
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