THORNDIKE — Between a milestone and a victory, it was a pretty good Wednesday night for the Mount View girls basketball team.
Hannah Coolen reached 1,000 points for her career while scoring 12 in the game, leading the Mustangs to a 44-35 victory over Leavitt.
Mount View, which also got 10 points from Kricket Thompson and nine from Arianna Bradeen, improved to 5-7. The Hornets, who were led by 17 points from Jill Pelletier, fell to 1-10.
Coolen, who entered the game needing 11 points to reach 1,000, became only the second player in program history to reach the milestone, joining Emily Ellis, who graduated in 1981 and went on to a prolific career at the University of Maine before being inducted into the Maine Basketball Hall of Fame.
“I’m just really excited, and I’m glad I got to do it, especially at a home game,” Coolen said. “I’m just relieved now that I can get past it and think about the rest of the season.”
Coolen reached the number after intercepting a pass near the wing and outrunning the Leavitt defense to the basket. She was fouled on the drive, but still converted the basket with 5:38 to go in the game as fans, perfectly aware of where she stood, roared in celebration. The game was stopped for a ceremony, and Ellis presented Coolen with the game ball.
Mount View High School celebrate as senior Hannah Coolen scores during the first half of a game against Leavitt on Wednesday night in Thorndike. Coolen scored her 1,000th point later in the game. Michael G. Seamans/Morning Sentinel
“I’m happy for her, she puts in a lot of time and effort, her body gets beaten up a lot because she gets fouled a lot,” Mustangs coach Mark Cooper said. “She just perseveres and keeps playing and does a great job.”
Mount View never trailed in the game, but did see Leavitt narrow the gap to three points at 22-19 in the second quarter and then 38-32 halfway through the fourth quarter on a Pelletier three-pointer. Each time, however, Mount View made the plays to build the lead back up. Freshman Savannah Lorenz followed Pelletier’s shot with a putback, and Sydney Vogel made a pair of free throws to push the advantage to 10 points 2:04 to go.
“We’ve talked a lot the last couple of years about basketball being a roller coaster,” Cooper said. “Sometimes you’re at the top, sometimes you’re at the bottom. Sometimes you’re the hammer, sometimes you’re the nail. You just can’t dwell on what just happened if it was bad, we have to move forward. Sometimes, you threw that pass into the bleachers and that’s all you’re thinking about, just (think) ‘Next play, next play.’ Move on to the next play.”
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