Springfield’s Dugan scores 1,000th point, setting example for teammates
Molly Dugan was asked if there was anything else she was thinking about as her 1,000th career basketball point approached.
The Springfield Township senior’s answer perfectly encapsulated just who she is. Instead of putting the focus on herself or her milestone, Dugan had just one request.
“I just want to make sure my teammates and coaches are mentioned,” Dugan said after scoring 13 points against Plymouth-Whitemarsh on Dec. 20, leaving her eight short of the millennium mark.
Dugan hit the milestone point two nights later, on a foul shot in a 36-25 win at Upper Moreland.
A four-year varsity player and three-year starter for the Spartans, Dugan has scored a lot of points, grabbed a lot of rebounds, dished plenty of assists and racked up some major minutes plugging away for the smallest school in the entire Suburban One League. But through it all, even with some of the eye-popping single game performances, it’s never been about her.
Dugan isn’t a year-round player and she isn’t trying to turn her exploits into a college career, instead, the guard/forward plays a little bit for pride, a little bit for a family competitive streak and for a lot of love for the game.
In fact, the idea of scoring 1,000 points to her wasn’t about hitting a magic number, but the path it took to get there.
“To be on the court that many times, it’s so much fun and I’ve loved doing it,” Dugan said. “If I had the opportunity to score 1,000 points, it meant I had the opportunity to do what I loved that many times. I just wanted to have fun and never really thought about it. Now that I’m a senior, everyone mentioned it to me but I never thought about the points.”
A school like Springfield, which plays in the Suburban One League’s American conference, doesn’t get many star athletes, so the team becomes the priority with an emphasis on maximizing collective talent. Dugan’s talent is certainly scoring the ball, as her 23.0 ppg average this year attests to but she’s more than that.
The senior plays hard and now being an upperclassman, tries to be a leader for her younger teammates. It was the way the seniors treated her as a freshman, so Dugan has done her best to pay it forward to the eight sophomores and freshmen on Springfield’s roster.
“I like to talk team all the time and as far as Molly goes, Molly is the ultimate team player,” Spartans coach Bill Krewson said. “The greatest thing about Molly Dugan is she has a basketball mind. She knows where to go and what to do in most situations and she doesn’t make too many mistakes. That’s a great asset to have on your team.”
Coaches in the American Conference certainly knew Dugan was a player that demanded defensive attention, but she put a lot of people on notice late last season when she exploded for 40 points against Cheltenham. That changed things, at least in terms of how she was defended but the most important thing to Dugan about that game?
Springfield upset the Panthers and won.
“It’s been harder, I always have a man defender on me, I never have a zone against me,” Dugan said. “But we all do whatever we can to make the team win, it’s not just me scoring but whatever works.
“If we all score 10 points, I don’t care, as long as we get it done and win.”
Even when her season-high of 34, also against Cheltenham was brought up, Dugan quickly noted her team lost that game. Her competitive streak is a family trait passed down from her father, who was her first basketball coach when she started CYO ball and her brother Brendan, two years her elder and a former Springfield player himself.
Brendan usually won their games at home, but each time they played, Molly only got more and more determined to beat him.
“We’ve always competed with each other and when I was in middle school, I would go to the games to watch the high schoolers play and just couldn’t wait to come up and join them,” Dugan said. “He probably beat me every time. It’s very competitive to have an older brother and I still always want to beat him.”
Dugan also played soccer for Springfield, which she said only strengthened the bond she has with her teammates, several of them also on the basketball team. Springfield relies on multi-sport athletes for all its teams and in most classes, underclassmen in starting roles.
That, more than anything on the court, is where Dugan feels she’s grown the most in her time at Springfield. The senior plays hard and nearly every minute, setting an example for her younger teammates.
“That’s what I’m hoping, it’s all I can ask for,” Dugan said. “They’re so young and I had that as a freshman and it probably helped me to be as competitive as I am.
“We only have two seniors and one junior, so I love being a leader on this team. I never thought I’d be like this, but knowing that I’m older than them, I can be a great influence on them. Off the court, I try to hang out with them and make sure they’re doing alright. We talk in the hallways, it’s more than just being on the court and that’s what really connects us.”
Dugan said she’s likely heading to Temple next year, where her brother is currently a sophomore. She doesn’t play AAU ball, so whenever Springfield’s season is over will likely be the last time she plays basketball, though Dugan didn’t rule out maybe playing club in college.
Of course, there’s plenty of time left for Dugan and her teammates, especially if they’re able to match last season when the Spartans made the second round of the district tournament. Dugan said she’d love to get back to the postseason for her senior year and ever the good teammate, added it would be a great experience for the underclassmen as well.
“I try to stay in until the last possible second, I want to enjoy moment of it while it lasts,” Dugan said. “I’m going to miss it like crazy, I’m not going to lie. I’ll take whatever comes along, as long as I’m having fun.”
