White becomes 3rd Wildcat to reach 1,000 as Owen J. Roberts holds off Great Valley
BUCKTOWN >> Avery White was out on the floor two seasons ago when Olivia LeClaire became the second Owen J. Roberts girls player to break the 1,000-point milestone.
She remembered the damper a close loss to Spring-Ford put on the milestone night.
After reaching the mark herself Saturday against Great Valley — just the third Wildcat to do so – White didn’t want her special moment spoiled by another tight defeat. So she didn’t let it.
White’s steal with less than two seconds left sealed OJR’s 40-36 victory over the visiting Patriots.
“I wouldn’t have been here without all my teammates, so it was a really fun moment, but ultimately I still wanted to win the game,” White said. “It was a close game so I was focusing on that.”
PHOTO GALLERY: Owen J. Roberts-Great Valley Girls Basketball 12.18.21
.@OJRgirlsBball senior 1,000-point scorer Avery White, right, and junior Gabbi Koury following Saturday’s win over Great Valley. pic.twitter.com/vXj8tNPKQP
— Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue) December 18, 2021
White came into Saturday’s game needing nine points to reach the milestone. She finished with 12 in the win to bring her to 1,003 career points in her career, while junior Gabbi Koury chipped in with another 12. Laura Lum scored 11 and Lauren Fredrick had 10 for the Patriots.
OJR’s lone 1,000-point scorer prior to 2020 was 1999 grad Nikki Kingston, who finished her career with 1,195 points. White is the second Wildcat in three seasons to surpass the mark, following 2020 grad Olivia LeClaire, who set the program record with 1,250 points.
“I think it says a lot about where we are,” said OJR 14th-year head coach Jeremy Mellon said. “For a long time, from ‘99 to whenever, we didn’t have anybody. And then fortunately in the last couple years we had Liv and now we have Avery.
“To me, the most important thing is ‘Would you want your daughter to grow up like her?’ And I would, 100 times over,” he added. “She’s just a great kid. She deserves all of it because she works so hard, and she’s a great teammate, too.”
White, who posted outings of 22, 20 and 21 in OJR’s first three games, appeared well on her way to accomplishing the feat early on Saturday with a six-point first quarter that spotted OJR a 12-10 lead.
A few open looks didn’t go down for her in the second before the Patriots started face guarding her off the ball. The Wildcats’ offense went quiet in the latter parts of the first half before Great Valley took an 18-15 lead at half.
White finally got on the board again with a pair of free throws at the 5:19 mark of the third. A few possessions later she swooshed another foul shot through the net to reach the milestone mark.
“As soon as she got to the free throw line, I think we all had a lot of confidence in her and we were all really happy for her,” Koury said.
Avery White becomes the third Wildcat to reach 1,000 points with this third-quarter FT. pic.twitter.com/RiV4yTU891
— Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue) December 18, 2021
With the milestone out of the way, OJR appeared to loosen up, grabbing a 30-23 lead after three quarters.
“I wasn’t hitting my shots, a couple other girls weren’t hitting their shots,” White said. “We were kind of stuck there on offense. Once we sort of settled down and started going we gained more confidence and just kind of settled.”
Great Valley cut down the lead to two, 33-31, with 3:49, but Koury found Ava Clemson for a bucket then scored on a fastbreak next time down to give the Wildcats a cushion. Koury scored six fourth-quarter points, also knocking down a pair of free throws in the final minute.
The Wildcats led by two possessions until Lum sank a free throw to make it 39-36 following a White turnover. After two missed OJR free throws, the Patriots had a chance to tie, but White’s steal sealed the victory.
“It felt good to just end it on a win,” she said.
FINAL: Owen J. Roberts 40, Great Valley 36. … On the night she reaches 1,000 points, Avery White seals the win with a steal. pic.twitter.com/NwbbDgRgTq
— Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue) December 18, 2021
White is the fastest Wildcat to reach 1,000 points, and needs 247 to catch LeClaire for the program’s all-time mark. She’ll need a little more than 13 games to accomplish the feat if she maintains her current pace of 18.8 points per game.
It’s definitely on her radar, but not at the forefront of her mind as she and the Wildcats have their eyes on competing for a league title.
“It’s not my main focus,” White said. “That would be really cool to break that record and be the leading scorer, so I’ll definitely be striving for that, but I would ultimately like to win games. If that comes along with it, that would be cool too.”
Owen J. Roberts 40, Great Valley 36
Great Valley: Sintis 1 0-0 2, Lum 3 4-8 11, Fredrick 4 1-2 10, Curley 1 5-6 8, Totals 9 10-16 36.
Owen J. Roberts: As. White 1 3-9 5, Price 1 2-5 5, Av. White 1 9-15 12, Vogelman 1 0-0 2, Koury 5 2-2 12, Smith 1 0-0 2, Clemson 1 0-0 2, Totals 10 16-31 40.
Great Valley 10 8 5 13-36
Owen J. Roberts 12 3 15 10-40
3-point goals: GV – Lum, Fredrick, Curley ; OJR – Price, Av. White.
