Harriton High School’s Sophie Grady joins 1,000 point club
Rosemont – What was supposed to be an evening to celebrate with Harriton High School senior Sophie Grady netting her 1,000th career point turned bittersweet when her team dropped a key Central League match-up against Marple Newtown High School.
Needing seven points to become just fourth player in the history of the girls basketball program to reach 1,000 career points, Grady helped her squad get off to a quick start by scoring six of her team’s first 11 points.
With 45 seconds remaining in the first quarter, sophomore Christina Brown began to drive the lane before finding Grady behind the arc. As she has done many times throughout her career, Grady pulled up and drained the three-pointer for career points 1,000, 1,001 and 1,002.
“It feels good to score 1,000 career points,” Grady said following her team’s difficult 57-50 overtime loss. “I feel very grateful to be I the position I have been thanks to my coaches and my teammates to get where I am in today.”
Harriton’s first-year coach Kacy McNichol said, “Unfortunately, things did not fall the way we would have hoped, but I have to give Marple credit for going to a box-and-one defense. We have to have more kids step up and score. The kids are playing hard but we just haven’t been able to get the job done. I was hoping to celebrate two things tonight – getting a big Central League win and Sophie Grady scoring her 1,000th career point.”
Harriton teammate Meg Wilcox, who has grown up with Grady since before they could walk, added, “It’s pretty weird considering we have grown up together for so long. We started from like zero basketball to this so to see her become the fourth player in school history is crazy. I am so happy for her.”
Grady and Wilcox have played together at Harriton for three years but they grew up together and have known each other since before they could walk. Prior to Harriton, the pair also played together for two years at St. Margaret’s.
Knowing she was seven points away from joining Heather Barrie, Kate Melvin and Sabrina Tabasso as the only players in Harriton girls’ basketball history to reach 1,000 points for their career, Grady certainly felt the nerves until tip-off.
Once the game tipped off it was business as usual for Grady and her teammates. After junior Devon Adams put the visitors up 2-0, it was all Harriton courtesy of Grady, Brown and Wilcox who led the Rams to a 14-7 lead after the first quarter.
“I knew it would happen,” said Grady, making reference to scoring her 1,000th career point, a game at which her mother Theresa invited many family members and friends.
Grady laughed and said, “My mom had to bring the whole world out, but once the game started I knew it was bigger than me scoring my 1,000th career point. It was in the back of my mind but I was ready to play and focused on the game.”
McNichol, who has been part of many players scoring their 1,000th career point while playing and coaching at the Academy of Notre Dame with her mother Mary Beth, added, “We have had 11 players at Notre Dame score 1,000 career points and each time it was special. The only difference was Sophie knew, while at Notre Dame it was kept secret. I wanted to see how Sophie would react. She was nervous at first but once she settled in we told her the points would come. When I was hired everyone talked about Sophie and I heard about her from my time with the Comets so it was blessing to watch her do this during my first year as head coach at Harriton.”
Following a difficult loss, the best medicine is getting back to action. The Rams will do that Friday evening when they travel to Lower Merion for their annual clash (played after this newspaper went to press).
“The kids are really excited for Lower Merion,” said McNichol. “It’s a huge rivalry game. It’s a good way to have short term memory and fix what we need to fix to help us get a much-needed win.”
