Livingston Christian's Johnson scores 41: Is it a Livingston County girls basketball record?
SALINE — Audrey Johnson had no idea she scored 41 points, because who scores 41 points in a girls basketball game?
The answer is apparently nobody, at least nobody in Livingston County history.
Johnson’s performance came Monday night during a 51-42 victory over Bloomfield Christian in the semifinals of the Southeast Michigan Athletic Conference tournament at Washtenaw Christian.
“I thought I only had like 20-something,” Johnson said. “I was just so focused on wanting to win, because we were down most of the game.”
She didn’t realize she broke a major barrier until coach Jason Stiles mentioned it as players were leaving the court.
“It was one of those games she was so into because of the competitiveness of the game,” Livingston Christian coach Jason Stiles said. “My buddy the scorekeeper said, ‘Do you realize Audrey had 41?’ there at the end. I went up to her after we shook hands and said, ‘Audrey, do you realize you had 41?’ She had no idea. She was so focused on the team victory. I thought that spoke very highly of her and her character.”
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How historic was Johnson’s performance?
What is known is that she broke her own school record of 34 points, set as a freshman during a district game against Ann Arbor Central on Feb. 28, 2022.
She eclipsed the known school records at Howell (38 by Alexis Miller in 2017-18) and Pinckney (37 by Laura Oestreich in 1986). Records are not known for Brighton, Fowlerville or Hartland. In records going back to 2016-17, the top totals from those schools are 30-point games by Sophie Dziekan and Mary Copple of Brighton and Aubree Meyer of Hartland.
The list of MHSAA records for games of 45 points or more does not include a Livingston County player.
It’s the third time in Johnson’s three-year career that she’s scored at least 30 points. She boosted her season scoring average to 22.3 points.
There were no indications early that this would be a record-setting night for Johnson or even a victory for Livingston Christian.
Bloomfield Christian, which split two previous games with the Falcons, scored the first 10 points of the game. Johnson had five points in the first quarter before erupting for 15 in the second. After being held to four in the third, she scored 17 in the fourth. She hit four 3-pointers and was 9-for-16 from the line.
“I saw the scoreboard and realized if we want to win, I need to step it up,” she said. “It just kicked in a lot of motivation. I just wanted to win so bad. I made sure to focus on myself and make sure I’m contributing in a way to help us win.”
Even though Bloomfield Christian played the Falcons twice and knew stopping Johnson was a priority, knowing it and accomplishing it were two different things.
“Every huddle we had, it was, ‘Let’s get Audrey open, let’s set some screens for her,’” Stiles said. “Again, there was nobody to stop her off the dribble. She was just taking them to the basket. She had a couple breakaways where she just pulled up and hit a three. She started feeling it in that second quarter. It was pretty fun.”
Livingston Christian (7-6) advanced to the championship game of the SMAC tournament against host Washtenaw Christian at 5:30 p.m. Friday.
Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@gannett.com. Follow him on X @BillKhan
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Livingston Christian's Audrey Johnson scores school-record 41 points
