Lansdale Catholic’s Casey becomes program’s all-time leading scorer in win over Bonner & Prendergast

LANSDALE >> Only 16 points separated Gabby Casey from becoming Lansdale Catholic girls basketball’s all-time leading scorer Tuesday night

It took just a little over four minutes into the Crusaders’ contest with visiting Bonner & Prendergast before the stellar senior guard, her teammates and a packed student section were celebrating her taking over the program’s top spot.

“Honestly I was really nervous,” she said. ‘Just the nerves were building up in warmups and everything and seeing the big student section. It didn’t really feel like it was the first quarter cause the first quarter felt so long. I don’t know, I just wanted to get it over with so that was great.”

Lansdale Catholic overwhelmed the Pandas from the start of the Philadelphia Catholic League matchup, Casey collecting eight points as the Crusaders jumped out to an 18-0 lead.

It was 28-1 when Casey matched Meghan O’Brien’s record of 1,259 points set in 1994 by knocking down a 3-pointer and shortly after she eclipsed the mark on a breakaway layup at 3:42 in the first quarter.

“It means a lot,” Casey said. “Just to be surrounded by great teammates and just to see that all my hard work really is starting to pay off and it’s just a really great moment and I think I’ll remember it forever.”

After the game paused to recognize her accomplish, Casey went right back to scoring, the St. Joseph’s commit adding the Crusaders’ next basket to finish with 19 in the quarter as Lansdale Catholic erupted for 45 points in the opening eight minutes as it cruised to a fifth straight win, routing Bonner & Prendie 78-11.

“This program really needed a player like Gabby Casey when she came in her freshman year,” Lansdale Catholic coach Eric Gidney said. “And I hope that Gabby needed the program, too, right? Looking back to when she first gave me that decision in the summer before her freshman year to now, and just seeing how much she loves being a part of this program, playing the game, her selflessness. She’s a kid that even though does so many remarkable things that deserve the spotlight, isn’t always really comfortable in that said spotlight which is always just sort of amazing to me.

“Even forgetting the things, what she does on the court, to have so many of her former teammates to show up tonight, too, just says about who she was as a teammate.”

Casey collected four more points in the third to post a game-high 23 points, putting her at 1,267 career points, leaving her 80 shy of the school’s all-time record of 1,347 set by Mike McGowan in 2003.

“Eighty points is a lot to score but just focusing on the wins until I get closer to that point,” Casey said.

The senior could reach that mark in a short timeframe, having already gone off for 40 points – along with 21 rebounds – in the Crusaders’ 76-54 win over Neumann-Goretti last Thursday in their Catholic League opener.

“I think just my aggressiveness, just the drive and just the want to score,” said Casey of what helped her produce her impressive career point total. “I think when I really have it set in my mind, that’s really my goal just to score.”

Casey’s first bucket made it 4-0 then she got going with a personal 7-0 run capped by a three-point play in transition that put Lansdale Catholic (8-1, 2-0 PCL) up 18-0 at 6:16 in the first quarter.

“I think after I hit that one and-one and I made the foul shot and I was like, ‘All right,’’ Casey said. “I was tuned in after that.”

Bonner & Prendergast got on the scoreboard seven second later with a free throw but Casey connected on a 3-pointer to move three away from tying the program record.

“I saw the student sections had the points up on the side,” Casey said. “That really pushed me I guess, to see their support, which was really great.”

After baskets from Olivia Boccella then Sanyiah Littlejohn made it 25-1, Casey equaled O’Brien’s career total knocking down a triple from the right side. A breakaway chance quickly followed and her layup put Casey atop the team’s all-time scoring list.

“When it’s just you and the basket, it’s a little, you’re in your mind,” she said. “Thankfully it went in.”

Getting to set the record in Lansdale Catholic’s gym added to the moment for Casey after last season as a junior scoring her 1,000^th career point at Spring-Ford in the Crusaders’ PIAA-4A second-round win over Allentown Central Catholic.

“I didn’t get to share it at home but this was just a lot,” she said. “Just to be at home with a big crowd and all my friends here to support, which meant a lot.”

Casey’s last basket of the quarter then back-to-back Boccella threes made it 38-1 before the Pandas posted their first field goal on a three-point play at 1:46. Jaida Helm collected LC’s last seven points of the period as it led 45-6 at the end of eight minutes of play. By halftime, the Crusaders’ advantage was 65-9.

“I think today we came out with a lot of energy and a lot of just passion, just to keep the winning streak going,” Casey said. “But yeah it was crazy the way we came out making all the shots, it was really a good team effort.”

Helm scored 12 of her 14 points in the first quarter while all of Boccella’s 11 points came in the opening period.

“We’ve opened up the last two games from the jump really well,” Gidney said. “We opened up 8-0 on Neumann-Goretti on Thursday night and that’s just what we want to do. Don’t be complacent, come out hot, attack. We’re at our best when multiple players are scoring.

“A lot of that first 13-0 run wasn’t all just Gabby – Jaida, Liv, I mean everybody was involved and I think got buckets there. And it really just sets a tone not just for that game but who we want to be the rest of this year.”

Tuesday’s game was the first of four straight scheduled at home for Lansdale Catholic, which finishes the week looking to go 3-0 in the PCL hosting West Catholic 6 p.m. Thursday. Bonner & Prendergast is home against Archbishop Ryan 3:45 p.m. Friday.

“The biggest thing for us these last two weeks or so is that we need to maintain who we are regardless of situations,” Gidney said. “The who, what, when, where, why and how of the game that we have and just be Lansdale Catholic girls basketball, the team that went to the state finals last year, a team that works their butts off and has that as a goal again this year. And I think that’s how we started off the game.”

Lansdale Catholic 78, Bonner & Prendergast 11
Bonner & Prendergast 6 3 0 2 – 11
Lansdale Catholic 45 20 8 5 – 78
Bonner & Prendergast: Riley Donahue 1 2-5 4; Lilly Goldschmidt 1 0-0 3; Maia Lo Sasso 0 2-2 2; Emily Riehl 0 2-5 2; Melanie Standen 0 0-1 0; Totals 2 6-13 11.
Lansdale Catholic: Gabby Casey 10 1-1 23; Jaida Helm 5 3-4 14; Oliva Boccella 4 0-0 10; Sanyiah Littlejohn 4 0-0 9; Nadia Yemola 4 0-1 8; Isabella Allen 3 1-2 7; Alana Ciccocelli 2 0-0 5; Aubrey Mobley 0 2-2 2; Totals 32 7-10 78.
3-pointers: BP-Goldschmidt; LC-Boccella 2, Casey 2, Ciccocelli, Helm, Littlejohn.