AG’s Hall scores 2,000th career point
WASHINGTON – Like so many times before, when the moment came, Loui Hall was prepared. Took her time. Maintained her poise.
After becoming the first Albert Gallatin basketball player to ever score 2,000 career points, Hall was handed the game ball by an official, and did a conditioning drill-like sprint to the top row of Trinity’s gymnasium. There, she presented the ball and a hug to her dad, Tom, and dished out another embrace to her sister, Shauntai, whose scoring record she surpassed earlier this season.
She gave herself high marks … for the bleacher climb, that is.
“I was hoping I didn’t fall going up like I did for my 1,000th point,” Loui said with a smile. “I took my time with this one.”
For 2,000 points, you’d have thought her family would’ve at least met her half way.
“They’ve been taking me around the world the past four years,” said Hall, deflecting the suggestion. “So I guess that running up the bleachers is the least I could do.”
Hall left her stamp all over AG’s 63-44 win here Thursday night, outscoring Trinity with a season-high 46 points, while grabbing 17 rebounds. She shot 18 of 26 from the field, with all but one of her baskets coming deep inside the paint.
Fittingly, her milestone basket, at the :53 mark of the first quarter, came on an offensive put back after Mallory Adamovich missed a jumper from the right corner.
“I kind of figured it would be like that,” Hall said. For fans of AG girls basketball, it was vintage Hall, creating her own opportunity by outworking the competition. Seven of her baskets came off offensive rebounds.
“People see her numbers and think she’s taking a lot of shots,” said Colonials first-year coach Shea Fleenor, whose team remained unbeaten in the section at 5-0 while improving to 10-2 overall. “In actuality, she’s not. She works so hard on the offensive glass, she creates her own opportunities.”
It’s doubtful that an opponent has worked harder at stopping Hall than Trinity did last night. The Hillers (0-5, 3-9) constantly rotated players and spent fouls in trying to match her physical style. Sporting scratches on her right shoulder and a sore arm afterwards, Hall nonetheless relished the challenge. “I figured they were going to come out strong, and they did. They’re really physical, and that’s the way I like to play.”
Despite starting just one senior compared to the Colonials’ four, the Hillers came out the aggressor. Their full-court man-to-man defense and patient offense put AG on its heels early on. Stephanie Addington’s inside hoop gave the Hillers an 8-2 lead midway through the first quarter. Hall’s milestone hoop later in the period only brought AG to within three points of the lead, 14-11.
But the Hillers went cold in the second quarter, converting just two of their 11 shots. Hall gave AG their first lead, 18-17, on a foul shot – her 12th straight point – with 4:41 left before half.
After AG snatched a 28-21 halftime lead, Trinity opened the second half with a 9-0 run to re-claim the lead, 30-28, on Mallory Loar’s lay-up at the 4:38 mark of the third.
The Hillers’ stubbornness came as no surprise to Fleenor.
“Sitting atop the section, our girls aren’t used to playing with a target on their backs,” the first-year head coach said. “I told them that we worked hard to be in this position, but we’re going to have to work twice as hard to stay there.”
From that point, Hall scored the Colonials’ next dozen, and assisted on another to put AG up, 44-36, early in the fourth quarter.
“Defensively, we had a lapse in the fourth that cost us,” said Trinity coach Jim Webb, former head women’s coach at Mercyhurst College. “AG did a good job getting by our press, and Loui did a nice job of finishing.
“I really think that Duquense’s got a nice player,” added Webb, referring to Hall’s college selection.
It was the third time this season that Hall’s topped 40 points. AG is 3-0 in those games.