'She wants to be the best': Dartmouth High's Cheesebro joins 1,000-point club
NEW BEDFORD -- The moment that Kat Cheesebro has been waiting for came early in the Dartmouth High girls basketball team's 71-37 win over GNB Voc-Tech on Saturday.
After taking a pass on the left wing, Cheesebro turned and attacked the basket, scoring on a leaner off the glass in the low post. That gave her 1,001 career points.
The game was stopped to present Cheesebro with the ball and she said afterwards that she was relieved to finally break the milestone and happy that her parents were in attendance.
"I was nervous last night and today, so I was happy to get it over with," said Cheesebro, a junior guard who's the reigning Standard-Times Girls Basketball Player of the Year. "This area has produced a lot of great players and it's nice to be included up there with them. I have great coaches and teammates who inspire me to work hard. None of this would be possible without them."
After averaging 16.0 points a game as a freshman, Cheesebro bumped her average to 23.1 points a game in a breakout sophomore season. She entered Saturday's matchup with a 26.5 average, and she scored 16 of her game-high 24 points in the first quarter to help give the Indians a commanding 41-21 halftime lead in a 2023 SouthCoast Roundball Classic matchup at the Beardsworth-Gonsalves Gymnasium on the campus of New Bedford High.
"Kat plays at another level with her quickness, athleticism, and shooting," Dartmouth coach Brian Jalbert said. "She's good, but she's never satisfied. She has a tremendous work ethic, and she pushes herself hard. She wants to be the best she can be."
A talented athlete who also plays soccer for, Cheesebro has been a three-year starter who leads by example.
More: Meet the top 24 H.S. girls basketball players from the SouthCoast to watch in 2023-24
"I came in as a freshman, trying to find my role on a young team," Cheesebro said. "I've grown as a person and a player the last couple of years, and I've taken on a leadership role. It feels good to know that my coaches and teammates have confidence in me."
Cheesebro also likes the style of play Dartmouth has used to get off to a 6-0 start after finishing with a 13-9 record last season.
"Defense is one of our strengths and we do a good job talking with each other on the court," Cheesebro said. "We're fast and we like to push the ball and shoot on the perimeter."
More: A look at the biggest sports stories involving SouthCoast athletes, teams and coaches in 2023
Dartmouth also got a good effort from junior center Kate Sullivan, who finished with 12 points and rebounded the ball well at both ends of the court.
"Kate has played well for us in the high post," Jalbert said. "She has good size and she's a good passer. She's becoming another option for us on offense, especially in the paint."
HOW IT HAPPENED
Dartmouth stormed to a 14-8 lead in the first quarter and a layup by Cheesebro fueled a quick 7-0 run that made it 21-8. Dartmouth led 28-18 after the first quarter and outscored the Bears 13-3 in the second quarter on the way to building a 41-21 halftime lead.
Dartmouth kept the pedal to the metal in the third, outscoring the Bears 10-3 to move in front by a score of 51-24, and they outscored the Bears 20-13 in the fourth for the final margin.
GNB VOC-TECH STATS: Freshman Jai-Ana Silva made a pair of 3-pointers on the way to scoring a team-high 19 points. ... The Bears (2-6, 0-2 South Coast Conference) also got eight second-half points from sophomore Kaira Dubois and six points from junior Laila Pires. ... The Bears made seven of 18 free throws and they finished with 27 turnovers.
DARTMOUTH STATS: Gangi finished with nine points and sophomore Valeria Carreria chipped in with eight points. .... Dartmouth, which had 10 players score points, was 15 for 24 at the free-throw line. ... They turned the ball over 17 times.
GNB VOC-TECH COACH SERGE MONIZ: "We have a young team that's looking to build some experience and continue to get better. It's a long season, but the girls are working hard and that's good to see."
NEXT UP: Both teams return to action on Tuesday. Dartmouth plays at North Attleboro and GNB Voc-Tech plays a conference game at Somerset Berkley Regional.
NOTES: The noon-time matchup between the two teams served as the opener for a four-game lineup. The Dartmouth-GNB Voc-Tech boys followed at 2 p.m., with the New Bedford-Bishop Stang girls at 4, and the New Bedford-Bishop Stang boys at 6. ... Former Fairhaven basketball star Ashley Brown was at the game scouting for Nichols College in Dudley, where she is a first-year assistant coach under Dan Nagle. Brown scored 1,045 career points for the Blue Devils and went on to score 1,113 career points at UMass Dartmouth, where she played for head coach Matt Ducharme.
DARTMOUTH 71, GNB VOC-TECH 37
GNB Voc-Tech
Ella Costa 1-0-2, Jai-Ana Silva 7-3-19, Laila Pires 2-2-6, Olivia Reis 0-1-1, Casalice Dias 0-1-1, Kaira Dubois 4-0-8. Totals: 14-7-37
Dartmouth
Kaelyn Zuber 2-1-5, Kat Cheesebro 12-0-24, Lily Gangi 2-5-9, Kate Sullivan 4-4-12, Valeria Carreria 3-1-8, Skylar Floyd 1-1-4, Remy Barber 1-0-2, Hailey Martins 1-2-4, Lindsey Barber 0-1-1, Maggie Spinelli 1-0-2. Totals: 27-15-71
GNB Voc-Tech 18 3 3 13 - 37
Dartmouth 28 13 20 10 - 71
Three-pointers - VT: Silva (2); D: Carreria (1), Floyd (1)
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Dartmouth High's Kat Cheesebro scores 1,000th career point
