New Hope-Solebury junior Reagan Chrencik reached the 1,000-point milestone this season. (Photos provided)
Reagan Chrencik has never been all that concerned with how many points she's scored.
But the New Hope-Solebury junior has spent the past three seasons scoring a whole lot of them. She entered the 2021-22 season 337 points shy of the 1,000-point milestone, and in the first quarter of a late season contest against Upper Moreland, Chrencik converted a layup into a basket that vaulted her to the elusive milestone.
“I knew I needed under 10 points, and I was trying not to keep track myself, but it’s hard not to think about it,” said Chrencik, who needed seven points entering the game. “I was pretty sure the basket I made was it, but I was like – ‘I don’t want to celebrate, I don’t know what’s going on.’ But then my coach called timeout, and I was like, ‘Okay, that was it.’”
Chrencik celebrated the milestone with her teammates but breathed a sigh of relief that it was behind her.
“I didn’t really know I was nearing a thousand until the week before,” she said. “We decided to check, and we were like, ‘Wow, we’re pretty close.’
“I really didn’t want to know how far away I was. Going into that night, I was nervous because people were there thinking I would get it. I could have had 20 assists and not scored that game and been happy. I didn’t want to focus on scoring, but I also didn’t want people to think I was going to get it and then I don’t. I was able to get it in the first quarter, which was nice, so I didn’t have the pressure on me anymore.”
Chrencik averaged 17.5 points a game this winter, finishing behind only Abington’s Cire Worley in points per game in the SOL. She also averaged 10.5 rebounds and three blocked shots, and listening to her coach tell it, Chrencik can pretty much do it all on the basketball court.
“She’s versatile – I think that’s her strength,” New Hope-Solebury coach Steve Polinsky said. “She can play inside, she can play outside. She’s working on her mid-range game, so she has a post-up game, a 3-point game and a mid-range game. She can block shots. That versatility is really going to serve her well when she plays college basketball.”
Basketball has been part of Chrencik’s life for as long as she can remember.
“My mom played basketball when she was in high school as many do,” Chrencik said. “She definitely got me into the sport around second grade.”
Chrencik actually was a three-sport athlete until middle school, competing also in soccer and softball.
“I always thought soccer was my favorite sport when I was little,” Chrencik said. “In eighth grade, I was like, ‘No, it’s basketball.’ Even in seventh grade I kind of knew that basketball was the one for me.
“I loved it, and AAU basketball is what started it for me. I started AAU in sixth grade, and it was just fun to me. It was such a good time, and it made me want to do better and better, so I started pushing myself more and decided, ‘This is what I want to do.’”
Chrencik developed a passion for the game while playing for Upper Makefield Heat under coach Kari Cairone.
“It was an amazing team, so much fun, such a good environment, and I got a lot better,” she said.
Polinsky knew about Chrencik before he took over the helm her freshman year.
“I’d heard about her, and I saw her play,” the Lions’ coach said. “She was a really good post player inside, but she really rounded out her game over the last two years and become more of an offensive 3-point shooter, guard oriented.
“She works like crazy at her game. She’s a baller. She’s the last one to leave the gym, she’s so into it. She’s very positive, she’s so coachable, and she’s a real asset to the program. More than anything, she’s a captain, and everybody follows her lead, and she’s earned that right because of how hard she works. It’s nice when your best player is also your hardest worker.”’
Ask Chrencik her favorite part of the game, and it’s not what you might expect.
“I’ve got to say it’s when you have good team basketball,” she said. “I don’t’ remember which game it was, but I had the ball in the corner, I swung it up top, swung it one more time and then one more pass and my teammate had a perfect three.
“No matter who makes the shot, seeing the good team chemistry and being able to click with your team and almost reading each other’s mind and have the end result a positive thing – it just makes me really happy while playing.”
Chrencik is the eighth New Hope-Solebury player in program history to reach the 1,000-point plateau.
“I don’t like to base how well I do on scoring, but I saw an opportunity,” she said. “I got a lot of playing time freshman and sophomore year.
“I try not to focus too much on scoring because some games you won’t score as much. I can’t think, ‘I need to score, I need to score,’ so I’ve tried to keep my mind off it, but this is something I wanted to accomplish.”
Chrencik has her sights set on playing collegiate basketball, and with her high school season behind her, she’s gearing up for her first season with the Comets on the AAU circuit where she will continue to work on her game.
“She’s just a well-rounded player,” Polinsky said. “She not a one-trick pony, which is really good.”
- Log in to post comments
