SPRINGFIELD – Pope Francis standout Isabella Meadows reached 100 goals and 200 career points during her highly productive four years on the pitch.
She added another milestone to her resumé, this time on the hardwood.
Coming into Monday’s game against Mount Greylock, she was 11 points away from the 1,000-point mark and determined to get it out of the way early. After a seven-point first quarter and an easy layup to start the second, Meadows was ready. She caught the inbound pass and brought the ball up slowly – as she customarily does. After passing to one of her teammates, she floated to the right wing, waiting for the ball to be swung back around.
A few moments later, that pass came. Meadows, without hesitation, started her shooting motion and launched the deep three. Once the ball had stopped rattling around the rim, it dropped through the net, and Meadows was immediately hugged by two teammates and soon the whole team.
“It wasn’t even real at the moment,” Meadows said. “It’s just a sigh of relief because I’ve been working really hard for it.” The game was paused as Meadows was greeted by her family and teammates for a picture.
Cardinals head coach Noris Cuevas praised his veteran point guard for her offensive play and what she brings to the table as a player. “[I’m] very proud,” Cuevas said. “She works hard on both ends of the floor at all times. I’m glad she was able to get her 1,000th point and celebrate with a lot of great people.”
In addition to accomplishing this feat, Meadows led her team with 26 points in the Cardinals 75-35 win over Mount Greylock.
| 1/22 – 6:30 PM Girls Basketball | Final |
|---|---|
| Mount Greylock | 35 |
| Pope Francis | 75 |
Coming off of a loss to South Hadley on Saturday, Cuevas was pleased with how his team performed. “We did exactly what we were supposed to do,” he said. “We executed really well today, and it showed a lot of good things that we’ve been practicing.”
Despite the eventual 40-point win, Pope Francis held only a 10-point lead in under four minutes in the second quarter.
That’s when Brookie Beadling got hot.
Despite coming off the bench, Beadling scored 11 second-quarter points and helped the Cardinals end the half on a 14-2 run to go into halftime up 51-27. “It was all about our defense,” Cuevas said. “We focused a lot on our defense in practice, and they executed really well.’”
The second half was much the same as Pope Francis continued dominating both sides of the court. In addition to Meadows (26) and Beadling (11), Meave Turmell also reached double digits – putting up 11 points, seven of which were in the fourth quarter.
