Pennridge senior Danny Long reached the 1,000-point milestone in the Rams’ win over Souderton.
By Mary Jane Souder
Danny Long isn’t big on personal milestones – the team will always come first to the Pennridge senior.
But on Tuesday night, Long found himself in the spotlight when – early in the fourth quarter of his team’s 83-64 win over Souderton – he buried one of his trademark pull-up jumpers in traffic. The basket vaulted Long to the elusive 1,000-point plateau, just the sixth male player in Pennridge history to accomplish that feat.
“It was a patented Danny Long move,” coach Dean Behrens said. “He penetrated, spun, pulled up, hit the shot.
“It was neat that he got his thousandth point tonight because we had such a great crowd, and I was glad he was able to do it here.”
When it was over, Long all but downplayed his remarkable accomplishment.
“My goals really just relate to the team, honestly,” he said. “Just going out and winning as many games as you can and just do whatever it takes to win.
“I guess scoring a thousand points kind of came with winning. I’ve been blessed to have some of the greatest teammates ever. I couldn’t have done it without them.”
Long, who is averaging 20 points a game, needed 23 points to reach the milestone – he finished with 27.
“Coach had kind of said before the game I was getting close,” he said. “I didn’t know the exact number, but I kind of figured I was close.
“When everyone started cheering, I kind of figured it out.”
Sharing the historic moment with the home crowd made it especially memorable.
“It was an experience I’ll never forget,” he said said. “It was actually unbelievable.
“We get incredible support every game, and it was just awesome.”
It was appropriate that Long scored the historic basket on his patented shot.
“He has a tremendous pull-up jumper – he’ll drive hard, and he’s able to jump stop and pull up,” Behrens said. “He goes straight up and finishes. It’s as good as you’ll see.
“There are a lot of good guards in the area, but Dan does it as well as anybody, especially at the high school level. He’s able to create a little bit of space between himself and his defender. He’s 5-11, but he’s got some strength to him. He’s able to get his body going one way and can pull up on a dime and go straight up. That looks easy, but it’s not.”
Long is the second male Pennridge player in as many years to reach the milestone and third in four years. Tim Abruzzo did it in 2012 and Zach Muredda accomplished that feat last year.
“How lucky have I been to have two back-to-back and Abruzzo not too long and I had Matt Best in 2005,” Behrens said. “My assistant coaches get a lot of credit for that as well. When you reflect on it, it’s an amazing feat.”
Making Long’s accomplishment even more remarkable is the fact that basketball is his second sport. He has signed a letter of intent to play baseball at Monmouth University.
“It’s actually funny - I was just talking to one of my old basketball coaches today,” Long said. “He said - remember in fourth grade when you were on the fence about playing basketball, and now I’m here.
“I’ve had great coaches all along coming up. I started playing in fourth or fifth grade, and I’ve been blessed with great coaches, including my high school coaches. I’ve put a lot of hard work into it, and it all paid off tonight.”
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