Holiday leftovers: Trio of Bloomington area girls hoops standouts reach 1,000-point club

A banner celebrating Grace Holdeman's 1,000 career points hangs high above the court at Lighthouse Christian.

The feat itself seemed farther away than that to Abagail Rousey when her high school career began four years ago.

Then on December 19 at home vs. Shoals, the senior was just eight points away from adding her name to the list. With 45 seconds left in the first quarter, a layup pushed her to 1,001. Teammates who had pieces of paper with a '1' and three '0s', held them high as they jumped up.

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Rousey joined her teammates in front of their bench as the game was stopped to recognize her accomplishment.

"When I was a freshman, I never thought this was a thing," Rousey said. "But we would see Grace Holdeman's thing, a thousand points. She was really good. I never thought that it would be a thing that I could do, too."

Older sister Hannah, who plays at the University of Valley Forge, was home on break and got to witness the milestone.

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Coach Brian Brown had kept careful track of the numbers and told Rousey before the season how close she was.

"Very excited for her," he said. "I think our girls, without saying, they wanted to get it and get it over with. You saw they would feed on the ball to her pretty quickly."

And Rousey was quick to acknowledge the role her teammates have played.

"It was amazing," Abagail said. "All the girls were hyping me up. I was just super nervous, I can't let anyone down. But it was absolutely amazing.

"I would say that this isn't just me. It's the whole team, all the teams I've played with."

It's also a big deal for the younger Lions, and future Lions, to see.

"I think, one, it means that you can do it here," Brown said. "And she did it with several different teammates. Like she said in the locker room, 'This is the Lighthouse 1000th point not my own.' She totally means that. She works hard. I'm really proud of her."

And she's a big part of why the program is having one of its best seasons in many years.

"I wanted to be a strong leader," Rousey said. "To lead by example, always work hard, don't just say something but do it."

At 9-6, one more win will give the Lions their best record since a 13-8 season in 2017-18. But LCA is also heading into the toughest stretch of its schedule. Coming off loses to Shoals and Columbus Christian, Eminence (13-5), Shakamak (12-5) and Evansville Christian (10-5) await in its next four games.

Rousey is averaging 13 points and 8.2 rebounds and she's getting help. Victoria Mann, LCA's other senior, is at 7 points and 7 boards per game. The future also looks bright with the Winders' sisters, freshman point guard Ellie Mae (11 ppg, 3 apg) and sophomore Aleah (6.5 ppg), who leads the team in 3-pointers.

"When Aleah gets her feet set, she hits them pretty good," Brown said. "Ellie Mae does a good job penetrating. She was a huge part in why we won the Southern Roads Conference Tournament. A couple of teams tried to pressure her and they couldn't."

Robbennolt, Hudson also reach 1,000

Rousey was just the first of three area girls' basketball players to reach the 1,000-point mark.

Eastern Greene's Keylee Hudson was the next on Dec. 20, hitting the mark in a win over North Daviess. She needed 21 points and got 27.

Then at the Lebanon Tournament, North's Mia Robbennolt reached the plateau in the first-round win over Lowell. She needed 17 points and got 24. She also reached the 500 rebound mark in the same game, joining what surely is a small group of Cougars.

Speaking of milestones, Owen Valley coach Trace Temples reached the 100-win mark on Friday with a 48-20 victory over Cloverdale. Temples is in his eighth season with the Patriots.

Title hopes for North

North's 61-26 romp at Terre Haute South will give the Cougars a chance to win a Conference Indiana title for the first time since 2010.

North (3-0) will take on Columbus North (4-0) at home on Jan. 19 for at least a share of the title if it wins. The Cougars will still have a road game at Terre Haute North (5-15, 0-3) to end the regular season on Jan. 25.

AREA GIRLS' LEADERS

SCORING: 1. Keylee Hudson, Eastern Greene (250) 17.9; 2. Mia Robbennolt, North (275) 15.3; 3. Ava Reitmeyer, North (244) 13.6; 4. Abagail Rousey, Lighthouse Christian (169) 13.0; 5. Julia Lashley, South (205) 12.8; 6. Macey Crider, Edgewood (111) 12.3; 7. Ava Robbennolt, North (180) 10.0; 8. Hannah Bixler, Owen Valley (171) 11.3; 9. Madi Bland, Edgewood (148) 8.7; 10. Violet Hall, South (136) 8.5; 11. Bianca Wyatt, Eastern Greene (118) 8.4; 12. Mallorie Elliott, Eastern Greene (108) 8.3.

3-POINT FIELD GOALS: 1. Ava Robbennolt, North 48; 2. Mia Robbennolt, North 23; T3. Ava Reitmeyer, North 20; Aleah Winders, Lighthouse 20; 5. Hannah Bixler, Owen Valley 19; 6. Bianca Wyatt, Eastern Greene 15; T7. Lily Smith, Owen Valley 13; Kayln Greene, Owen Valley 13, Keylee Hudson, Eastern Greene 13; Audrey Craft, South 13.

REBOUNDING LEADERS: 1. Abagail Rousey, Lighthouse (106) 8.2; 2. Julia Lashley, South (118) 7.4; 3. Mallorie Elliott, Eastern Greene (93) 7.2; 4. Victoria Mann, Lighthouse (82) 6.8; 5. Mallory Owen, Owen Valley (126) 6.6; T6. Mia Robbennolt, North (113) 6.3; Abbie Lucas, South (100) 6.3; 8. Taylor Monroe, Owen Valley (71) 5.9; 9. Jane Holdeman, Lighthouse (76) 5.8; T10. Madi Bland, Edgewood (89) 5.2; Taylor Helbert, Lighthouse (68) 5.2.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Trio of Bloomington area girls hoops standouts reach 1,000-point club