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Westminster Christian's Versluys soars over 2,000 mark

About the last thing on Maddie Versluys' mind four years ago was scoring 2,000 career points for Westminster Christian's girls basketball team.

Yet on Saturday evening in the Warriors' gym on the west side of Elgin that's exactly what happened.

With as turnaround finger roll shot from the lane with 16 seconds to play in the first quarter against Ottawa Marquette, Versluys became just the sixth girl in the Daily Herald's Fox Valley coverage area to eclipse the 2,000 mark (Lindsay Schrader of Bartlett, Becca Smith of South Elgin, Ali Andrews of Huntley, Leslie Schock of Elgin and Taylor Whitley of Geneva being the others).

Westminster lost the nonconference game 45-31. Versluys scored 21 of her team's points in addition to grabbing 6 rebounds and 5 steals.

"My goal for the longest time was just to get the school record," said the 5-foot-9 Versluys, who has yet to make a college choice but is far from void of offers.

"I couldn't have done any of this without my teammates. As (2,000) got closer it became my goal. I definitely had some butterflies today. With the excitement of senior night ... it's kind of bittersweet; happy and sad. I was just excited to get out there and play with my teammates."

Versluys, who was a freshman on the Warriors' 2013 Elite Eight team, drew praise from her coach and father, Fred, a standout athlete himself at Larkin and then Judson (College) University.

"I just can't say enough about her," said Fred Versluys. "Throughout the season she has been completely tireless the whole game every night and she has such a humble spirit. She works harder than any girl I've ever seen play. The way she acts and carries herself and encourages her teammates ... you'd never know she's been the leading scorer in the area the last two years."

Saturday's game was close at halftime as the Warriors (11-16) trailed just 15-12. But Marquette (18-7) went on a 19-2 run to open the third quarter, taking a 34-14 lead with 2 minutes left in the period. The final score was as close as the Warriors could get from there.

The Crusaders were able to open the game up by going inside to 6-foot-2 senior Cassidy Murphy, who scored 10 of her 14 points in the second half.

"This team clearly had an inside presence," said Fred Versluys of Marquette. "Give (Murphy) credit. She went up strong."

The Warriors made just 9 of 33 shots in the game and were outrebounded 36-24. Hannah Haecker, the only other senior on Westminster's roster, pulled down 11 boards.

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