Junior Taylor O’Brien became the first Plymouth Whitemarsh female to reach the 1,000-point mark since 2006.
Taylor O’Brien called it an “amazing moment,” and by any description, it was a special night.
In front of a large home crowd, the Plymouth Whitemarsh junior reached the magical 1,000-point mark early in the second quarter of the Colonials’ win over Wissahickon last Tuesday. She is the eighth female to reach the milestone at PW and first since Taylor Magnus accomplished that feat in 2006.
Making O’Brien’s accomplishment even more impressive is the fact that she did it in just her 58th high school game by averaging over 17 points a game since she stepped onto the court as a freshman.
“She’s the fastest of the eight to make it,” coach Daniel Dougherty said. “It can’t be easy playing your high school career boxed-and-one. It’s not easy to face that kind of pressure night in and night out.
“It takes a special person to embrace the star role, and she really has. It’s quite an accomplishment.”
O’Brien needed just 10 points entering Tuesday’s game, which is well below her average.
“Oh, I felt plenty of pressure,” she said. “I didn’t want to show it because I knew a lot of people had taken the time to come out and watch our team and just to see the accomplishment.
“It’s a team accomplishment too, so everyone who was there was not only supporting me but supporting my whole team, and I couldn’t have done it without my teammates.”
O’Brien had a chance to reach the milestone after she was fouled on an and-one that gave her nine points.
“She put (the foul shot) off the front of the rim,” Dougherty said. “There was a huge crowd there, the biggest crowd I’ve ever seen at a PW girls basketball game.
“It was an absolutely enormous crowd for her, which was great for her and the team because we’ve been having a successful season.”
O’Brien admits the pressure grew as the historic basket got closer.
“I was very nervous going into the game, and once I got the ball I realized I was speeding myself up so quick,” she said. “I think I walked a couple of times, and I couldn’t dribble the ball a couple of times.
“It was very high energy, and the excitement was overcoming. I was just glad my teammates were there to ground me, tell me to relax, and it all worked out pretty nicely.”
Shortly after missing the foul shot that would have vaulted her to the thousand-point plateau, O’Brien came up with a steal on the defensive end.
“It was a left-handed layup,” she said of the historic basket. “I stole the ball and then I got a fast break, but I was all excited and I couldn’t dribble the ball right so it was falling out of my hands.
“I finally gathered the ball together and just kind of chucked it up. Apparently there were two people guarding me, and I really didn’t notice that, but after it went up, I was like, ‘I really hope that goes in.’ It was just one of those things that we needed to be done with it and get on with the game because the game was so important.”
The game was halted, and O’Brien – who received the game ball – presented it to her mother.
“It was just so amazing that all of the people came to support our team and came out for this accomplishment,” O’Brien said. “It was just unreal that they all took time out of their day.
“A bunch of the sports teams came and alumni and all these coaches and spectators came to support our team, and it was just an amazing feeling.”
O’Brien - who Dougherty calls “a PW kid through and through” – has been a key piece of the Colonials’ emergence as not only a team vying for the program’s first conference championship since 1997 with a perfect 14-0 record but also is eighth in the latest District One 6A power rankings.
“It’s nice to see a kid who as a freshman and sometimes her sophomore season – emotions could get the better of her in big spots to where now she embraces the role,” Dougherty said. “When other teams come out trying to stop her, she really rises to the challenge.
“The funny thing – it’s so common for me to hear people in the crowd say, ‘Take away her left, take away her left.’ She’s really developed a right hand and developed her three-point shooting. It’s not easy to take away this kid’s left hand.”
O’Brien’s accomplishment, according to her coach, was one the whole team could enjoy.
“Going into tonight’s game we knew she was only 10 points away,” Dougherty said. “At the end of practice on Saturday, I said, ‘Look around. How long have you been playing with these kids?’
“Most of them have been playing together since fifth grade. Really, it’s a shared accomplishment. We came across a great quote this weekend that said – ‘Not everyone gets to be the starring role, but everyone needs to be a star at their role.’ A lot of her teammates have made sacrifices in a sense, and it’s really a shared accomplishment for these kids. It was a nice touch to have all of them on the floor when she reached the milestone. It’s a special night.”
Although O’Brien admits it has been a goal to add her name to the board with the list of the 1,000-point scorers, her team goals are clearly more important.
“It was an amazing night,” she said. “I just can’t believe it happened, the whole moment was so amazing.
“Our team goal was to do well during the season, give our all and hopefully make it to be first in our league.”
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