Schmidt sets Burlington Central scoring record

Burlington Central senior Kathryn Schmidt had no idea why her coach called a timeout after she sank a jumper midway through the second quarter Tuesday night against Plano in the Class 3A Burlington Central regional semifinals.

All her coaches and teammates sure did, and anyone in the crowd who didn't soon found out.

Schmidt's shot gave her 11 points in the game and 1,649 in her career, breaking Jenna Real's 17-year-old school record. All her teammates came off the bench to celebrate with Schmidt, who started her memorable night by singing the national anthem.

"It's just so surreal," Schmidt said. "I literally had no idea where I was or anything (on the school scoring list)."

Schmidt finished with 19 points in the 67-31 win to also pass Zach Schutta and become Burlington Central's all-time leading scorer, boy or girl

It's a record that would have fallen much sooner if not for injuries that cost Schmidt 20 games her junior and senior years. Schmidt, who will play at Lewis University next year, averaged 16 points as a freshman and sophomore on pace for 2,000 in her career before the bad luck.

"Last year was really rough, injury after injury," Schmidt said. "It (the record) just kind of solidifies all the hours I put in. Working hard, trying to be the best player I can be. I'm just so thankful to have my best friends as my teammates. I couldn't have done it without them. Now I'm just exited for Thursday."

That would be when Burlington Central (28-4) plays St. Francis - a 42-39 winner over Glenbard South - for the regional championship.

The Rockets hope to keep shooting as well as they did Tuesday when they made 11 from the 3-point arc including four by Elana Wells and three from Schmidt.

Schmidt almost had the record in the first quarter but missed a short shot in the closing seconds. She also missed 2 free throws early in the second quarter that could have set it.

But it was just a matter of time, and Schmidt got the record with 3:01 left of a first half that ended with the Rockets up big at 34-10. She then scored 8 more in the third quarter to pass Schutta (1,652).

Real came to the game to congratulate Schmidt, presenting her with the game ball afterward.

"Having Jenna here made it a little more special," Rockets coach Collin Kalamatas said. "Kat's a program-first type kid. There was that genuine look of shock when the game stopped. That's the type of person she is. She's always putting others first. Just an ultimate program kid. Couldn't be happier for her to have that moment here at home in a regional with as many games as she's missed."

Wells added 16 points and 4 assists, Alex Lichner scored 8 points and Rebecca Carani 7.

Lily Fernandez paced Plano (9-24) with 15 points.

"Our game plan was try to not let them get easy layups and hope they were missing their 3s because we felt if we played them man they were too quick for us," Plano coach Dave Lay said. "We watched a lot of film, we knew how good they are. We knew we had our hands full."