Kosner closing in on ACC scoring record
Delani Kosner fell short of breaking Aurora Central's all-time scoring record on the comfort of her home floor against Bishop McNamara on Thursday night.
There's no cause for concern though. The senior will just have to wait patiently until this weekend to do it miles from home at Bishop McNamara in Kankakee.
"Today it didn't happen, but I'm not worried about it or anything," she said. "I was sharing the ball still and trying to get the win."
Despite a slow start, the Chargers cruised past the Fightin' Irish, 62-47.
Vanessa Camp and Catherine Klein each had 10 points for the Chargers (7-9, 3-2 in the Metro Suburban Blue), Lizzie Albert added 11 and Kosner led with 13 points, leaving the game with about three minutes left, seconds after draining a pull-up jumper.
She now stands just 13 points away from the 17-year-old school record of 1,238 points, which is held by Sugar Grove's Andrea Taylor (2000-2003), who went on to play at Air Force. Kosner has committed to Kirkwood College, the No. 1 NJCAA Division 2 team in the nation.
"I want to make my mark here and since I've given it my all here, it would be nice to get the record," Kosner said. "I wanted to get my 1,000th point my junior year, but unfortunately that didn't happen because I missed six games, but I ended up getting it in my second game (this season). I hadn't thought about this record. It kind of came up when someone said I could break it and I thought it would be pretty cool."
The ability to score in different ways, as well as great vision in finding her teammates, has made Kosner a special player. She credits her siblings for helping her along the way.
"My sister is 14 years older but my brother is just four years older and he's 6-2," she said. "Both are really competitive so I learned a lot from them."
A coaching change at West Aurora a few years ago along with a warm welcome from then Aurora Central coach Mark Fitzgerald led her to Edgelawn Drive.
"We looked at a lot of different schools and I really liked it here," she said. "And a lot of my friends were going here."
She contributed right away and has never slowed down.
Aurora Central coach Levada Smith has seen her go from a "be seen not heard" type of player as a freshman to more of a ballhandler as a sophomore to a big-time scorer the past two seasons.
"Last year she became more of an actual scorer, actually going hard to the basket and getting to the foul line a lot," he said. "Since it's her last year, it's been kind of the same type of deal and a little bit more leadership as she continues to grow, cheering on players and this and that and working hard in practice. She's a baller."
The Chargers have two games scheduled on Saturday and another on Sunday. It's not a question of whether she'll break another record - she already has the single game scoring record of 30 points against Harlan in 2008 - but when.
"Before games I think about it and it's on my mind," she said. "But once I get to the game I don't think about it. I just go out there and see what happens."