THORNDIKE — For decades, Emily Ellis was the only Mount View girls basketball player to reach 1,000 points.
A few years ago, however, while Hannah Coolen was playing in middle school, the former University of Maine star and Maine Basketball Hall of Famer was notified that she would likely soon have company.
“My sister (Eileen) coached her, so she was giving be the lowdown,” said Ellis, a 1981 Mount View graduate. “She said ‘This is going to happen, Emily. So get ready.'”
On Wednesday, it did. Coolen reached the 1,000-point marker during a 12-point outing against Leavitt, guiding the Mustangs to a 44-35 victory over the Hornets.
“It’s relief,” said Coolen, who entered the game needing 11 points. “I’m happy, too, but I’m just relieved. Now I can just move on, I don’t have to worry about it.”
The number had been a target for a while. Mount View didn’t play a game between Jan. 14 and 25 due to COVID-19 safety protocols, pushing back the date in which Coolen thought she might reach it. And that wait just followed the three years Coolen had already spent hoping to join the exclusive club.
“After my freshman year, my coach and I talked about it,” Coolen said. “We just talked about goals and how I might get it, and one of my goals was to score 1,000 points.”
On Wednesday, Coolen went for the milestone in front of a bustling crowd that knew full well how many points she needed, and buzzed in anticipation every time she took a shot or drove hard to the basket. She also went for it after being told during warmups that Ellis was in attendance.
Suffice to say, there was pressure.
“I’ve been nervous for like two weeks,” she said. “It’s kind of been building up.”
Coolen, however, didn’t come out trying to get the number out of the way. She worked within the offense, taking the shots that were there but looking primarily to set up teammates. Sometimes, players on the doorstep of 1,000 start the game off shooting, but that wasn’t the plan Wednesday. It was Kricket Thompson, not Coolen, who scored six of the Mustangs’ first 13 points and was the top scorer in the first quarter.
Mount View High School fans celebrate after senior guard Hannah Coolen scored her 1,000th career point during a game against Leavitt on Wednesday night in Thorndike. Michael G. Seamans/Morning Sentinel
Mount View coach Mark Cooper, whose son Mason reached 1,000 points while playing for Lawrence, said that was by design.
“I reached out to (Mason) today, and said ‘Listen, what did coach (Jason) Pellerin tell you the day of the game? What did he tell the team?'” Cooper said. “He said ‘Dad, all he said was ‘Let’s do our thing. It’ll happen in the flow of the offense.” … We knew it would happen. It was just a matter of when.”
With a minute remaining in the first quarter, however, Coolen hadn’t scored a point, having gone 0-for-3 from the field to start. And the thought entered her mind about possibly having to wait yet again.
“Yeah, I was,” she said. “At halftime, I was a little worried.”
Watching from the stands, however, Ellis was not.
“I didn’t even worry about it,” she said. “I wasn’t the least bit worried. These things have a way of working themselves out.”
Back-to-back baskets in the final 24 seconds of the first got Coolen started, and even after going down hard on a drive and twisting her ankle in the second quarter, she stayed on the court. She had six points by halftime and 10 by the end of the third, and with 5:38 to play, it happened. She intercepted a pass between the wing and the corner, sprinted upcourt and made the layup while getting fouled from behind.
Her teammates surrounded her in celebration, and the game was stopped for a ceremony. Coolen was given a bouquet of flowers, shared an embrace with her parents, Roger and Sharon, and was joined by them for a photo at center court. Ellis came down and presented Coolen with the game ball, formally welcoming her to the club.
Mount View senior Hannah Coolen (22) battles for a the loose ball with Leavitt defender Caitlyn McCoy during a game Wednesday night in Thorndike. Michael G. Seamans/Morning Sentinel
“It’s a pretty big deal,” Ellis said. “And it’s kind of fun. It’s taken a few years between this happened the first time. … She was under a lot of pressure, and she came to the top. The cream always rises.”
Coolen said it was a special feeling having Ellis on the court alongside her.
“It was really meaningful for her to be here for me, and to see it happen,” she said. “I know she did it a while ago, and it was just exciting for her to be here. I didn’t know she was coming.”
The ceremony capped a moment Cooper also felt was coming even before Coolen arrived on varsity.
“Having (Ellis) here to present her the game ball, that’s special,” he said. “(Coolen) makes everybody better. … She’s not afraid to share the ball. She knows it’s going to take everybody to get us to the playoffs and beyond, so this is a situation where she’s developing the other players as well as developing herself.”
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