Welcome to the grand club: West Boylston's Maddie Pitro nets her 1,000th career point

CLINTON — As Maddie Pitro stood at the free-throw line at 7:22 p.m. Friday night, the West Boylston senior captain needed to score just one point to reach 1,000 for her high school career.

Donning pink basketball shoes, Pitro performed the same free-throw routine she’s had since seventh grade before firing a shot that hit the front rim, then the backboard and eventually fell through the net.

Insert point No. 1,000.

Welcome to the grand club, Pitro.

“I knew I had to make the shot, and thankfully I did. It was just a big, great relief that I made the shot,” Pitro, 17, said. “I knew it would be great, but I didn’t realize it would feel that great when I finally did it.”

“It was a perfect moment just because she needed that one point,” said her father, John. “I knew she was going to make it.”

Pitro proceeded to score a game-high 18 points to lead the Lions to a 42-28 win over Clinton in the championship game of the Holiday Classic Tournament.

The reigning T&G Super Team honoree was named tournament MVP and will soon have her name placed on the 1,000-point scorers banner located inside the West Boylston gymnasium.

“It’s a great feeling to actually see my name up there,” Pitro said.

A milestone moment for Maddie

As a seventh grader on the junior varsity team, Maddie Pitro saw former West Boylston basketball player Ashley Smith score her 1,000th career point in a game against Tahanto on Jan. 26, 2018.

“That was a surreal moment,” Pitro said.

The following season, Pitro scored her first two varsity points as an eighth grader in a home game against Doherty. Fast forward to Friday, the West Boylston senior needed seven points to reach the basketball milestone.

And she didn’t waste any time getting there.

Just 40 seconds into the game, Pitro stole the ball on defense and hoisted a right-handed layup for her first two points. Less than a minute later, her younger sister, Emily, tossed Pitro a pass in the paint, and she finished again with a right-handed layup for points No. 3 and 4 of the evening.

After a 3-point attempt from the corner rolled in and out, Pitro made an acrobatic two-pointer with five minutes to play in the first quarter to put herself within one point of the accomplishment.

“I had a big adrenaline rush,” Pitro said.

Following another Pitro steal on defense, the West Boylston combo guard went up for a layup but was fouled by a Clinton player. She had two shots for glory.

Once Pitro collected the ball from the referee at the free-throw line, she spun the ball backwards, took a dribble, slammed the ball to the floor, shifted both feet twice and spun the ball prior to taking one final dribble.

The rest is history.

Pitro becomes the 16th basketball player in West Boylston history to reach 1,000 points.

“It’s kind of a full-circle moment, seeing the last female athlete get the 1,000 point, and now I got mine,” Pitro said. “I don’t even have the words for it, I never expected anything like this to happen. I don’t have anything to say other than that it’s such a great accomplishment.”

“It was great for her to reach that milestone because she’s worked so hard for that each season and in the offseason,” West Boylston coach Kelli McSweeney said. “So I’m just so proud of her that she was able to reach that milestone tonight.”

‘A memory we will never forget’

Following a brief awards and trophy ceremony after the game, Pitro was swarmed by family and friends on the Clinton High basketball court.

Between posing for photos with cousins and grandparents, and receiving big hugs from mom and dad, Pitro chatted with Merrie Galena, a West Boylston grad who scored her 1,000th point in 1993.

Galena and Pitro have become close over the past few years after the former served as an assistant coach with the Lions for the latter’s sophomore and junior seasons.

“We talked over the summer a little bit about having both our names up on the banner, so it’ll be pretty neat when that happens,” Galena said. “I’m really proud of her.”

A sentiment shared by many who came to watch Maddie Pitro make history Friday night.

“She totally deserves this,” said her mother, Danielle, who also played basketball at West Boylston. “To see her name up on a banner in a gym that I used to play in … (is) absolutely wonderful, and today was a memory we will never forget.”

—Contact Tommy Cassell at tcassell@telegram.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @tommycassell44. 

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: West Boylston senior Maddie Pitro reaches 1,000 career points