Central Bucks West senior Mackenzie Carroll reached the 1,000-point plateau in the Bucks’ district quarterfinal 55-38 win over Council Rock North last Wednesday.
By Mary Jane Souder
With her team in the midst of a district playoff run, Mackenzie Carroll isn’t particularly interested in personal accomplishments, but there’s no mistaking the significance of the Central Bucks West senior reaching the 1,000-point milestone.
“I’m really happy it happened,” she said. “I’m sure I’ll look back and think it was a great accomplishment, but I’m just trying to stay in the moment for games.”
Carroll is just the ninth female in program history to reach that historic milestone, and she is the second player this season to reach the 1,000-point mark, joining Nicole Munger in that elite club.
“She’s worked as hard as anybody,” coach Terry Rakowsky said of his senior captain. “Even just physically - I tell my freshmen, ‘Look at yourself in the mirror. That’s how Mackenzie was in ninth grade.’
“When you look at her now on the court - that’s all working hard, which improved her game because she can get to the basket now, and she gets there with a lot of authority.”
Carroll can burn teams from long range or she can take it to the hole, and she gave glimpses early in her career that she had the potential to put big numbers on the board.
“When Nikki (Munger) was hurt her sophomore year, Mackenzie came out in our first three, four games of the year, and it was like 20 (points), 23, 18 and 25,” Rakowsky said. “She’s always been able to give that. It’s just that our offense is set up for everyone to score a little bit more.”
Carroll, who needed six points entering the game, made history when she connected on the first of two foul shots with 1:15 remaining in last Wednesday’s district second round win over Council Rock North. Her emotions at the time could be summed up in one word – relief.
The senior captain – the focal point along with Munger of Rock North’s triangle-and-two defense - spent the game looking for her teammates, but with time winding down, she admits she wanted to put the milestone behind her.
“I was trying to forget about it, but it was a little hard,” Carroll said. “I didn’t want let people down, but mostly, I wanted to play my game. They were guarding me really hard, so I wasn’t going to force things.
“I was getting really concerned because everyone came out with signs and stuff. My grandparents and my aunt and uncle were there.”
The celebration had to wait until the final horn sounded when Carroll found herself the center of attention.
“I probably watched all thousand points, which is pretty cool,” teammate Corrinne Godshall said. “I’m just so happy for her. She deserves it more than anyone.
“She’s worked really hard, she’s always in the gym, and she really deserves it.”
Waiting for their turn to get their photo taken with Carroll were aspiring youngsters who hope to follow in the senior captain’s footsteps in several years.
“It’s great to have those supporters – that was me a few years ago,” Carroll said.
The connection to the younger players is very intentional.
“They come to our camps in the summer, and in the offseason, they work out with us,” Carroll said. “They come to a lot of our games, and at halftime, they come into the locker room with us to observe.
“Some of our biggest supporters are seventh and eighth graders from Lenape, but we also have younger kids who are still in elementary school that are there too. It’s really great to see the program developing because I know years ago when they weren’t doing as well a lot of the better players were inclined to go to private schools. It’s great to see how coach Terry and the whole coaching staff is working to reach out to them.”
And it’s players like Carroll who serve as role models for youngsters hoping to one day put their name in the record books at Central Bucks West.
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