Burlington Central's Schmidt reaches 1,000 career points
Kat Schmidt needed 16 points in Monday's season opener to become the seventh 1,000-point scorer in the history of Burlington Central girls basketball. The junior had the milestone by halftime and the Rockets had the game pretty well in hand by then, too.
After hitting a 3-pointer early in the third quarter, Schmidt got the rest of the night off as the Rockets cruised past Larkin, 69-33, in the first round of the Burlington Central Thanksgiving Tournament.
Schmidt finished with 19 points and 5 rebounds. Elana Wells, who also sat out most of the second half, added 17 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists.
Aaliyah Dixon scored 12 points and Ashley Miller 10 for the Royals in the season opener for both teams.
"It was just amazing being able to play in front of all my best friends in my school and being able to play with my best friends as well," said Schmidt. "It was just so surreal. I've wanted to do this since I was a little girl and I came to the games with my dad, so to really accomplish it is just amazing."
Schmidt has been a consistent scorer from her freshman year on at Central, averaging 16.7 points a game her first year and 16.0 as a sophomore. She also grabbed 457 rebounds in her first two seasons of varsity basketball.
Schmidt credited her teammates, including Wells, who assisted on several of her baskets Monday.
"She's just amazing," Schmidt said of Wells. "We've all been sharing the ball really well just because we've been playing together for so long now, we're kind of used to each other's playing styles. I owe it all to them, all those passes and everything."
The Rockets led 27-5 after one quarter, with Wells scoring 12 points. Schmidt then took over in the second period, scoring 12 points as Central extended the lead to 55-16 by halftime.
"That was a nice start," said Rockets coach Mark Smith. "The girls have really worked hard. We've been in the weight room. We've been doing stuff in the weight room more times than they've ever been in the weight room."
Lily Moretti added 9 points, Alexandra Lichner had 7, and Zoey Kollhoff scored 6 off the bench for the Rockets.
It was a rough start to the season for the Royals, who simply could not match the Rockets' speed in transition.
"When they've got two very good players, special players, it's hard to stop them," said Larkin coach Steve Knapp. "It's hard to stop them in transition, too. We tried to start off in man (to-man defense). It didn't work. We had to switch to zone in the second half and it slowed them down a little bit, but, man, Wells is tough to stay in front of."