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Whildin scores 1,000th as Fillies roll

Every high school team honors their upperclassmen with a "Senior Night."

But very few are as eventful as the one Marian had Thursday night.During a 61-38 victory over Weatherly, the Fillies added another member to their 1,000-point club, gave an injured player a moment to cherish, and reveled in the scoring of a popular teammates' first points."It was a big night, we had a lot of good things happen for our seniors," said Marian head coach Paul Brutto. "It was really nice to have our seniors go out with something they'll probably remember for a very long time."And the win, that kind of gets lost in all the other stuff, but it was an important win to stay one game up on Shenandoah (in the Division 3 standings)."The contest started in a rather unique way. Senior Ashley Fannick, out most of the season with an ACL injury, opened the game on the floor and under her basket. After the Wreckers conceded the opening tap, the ball was passed to Fannick and the Fillie player layed it in for her final scholastic points."It was my idea ... and I contacted (Weatherly) Coach (Kevin) Kringe," said Brutto. "We have to give Weatherly a big thank you because they really cooperated and had no problems with it. That was a class act by them, and it was nice for her to score one more basket.""She's a great girl and a great player," said Kringe. "She deserves it. If we could do something to help her, then it's no problem on our part."The Wreckers (1-13; 0-10) hung around early, trailing just 8-5 after Jess Polchin's basket three minutes into the game.But a 23-0 Marian run in which the host team forced 10 turnovers put the game out of reach."Their defense does that to you," said Kringe. "They're going to grind you. They're going to make you do things that you don't want to do."Included during that stretch were a pair of free throws by Abbey Whildin that gave the team's leading scorer her 1,000th career point.Whildin entered the contest needing eight points to hit the miletsone. After a pair of three-pointers whittled that figure to two, she was sent to the foul line with 1:54 remaining in the opening quarter. The senior drained both shots to set off a celebration."I knew the situation and it was pretty nerve-wracking, but I made them anyway," said Whildin. "It was very exciting because all my friends and family that came to see me on Senior Night were also here for my 1,000th point."The Fillies (13-5; 9-2) continued to pile up the points, building a 47-13 advantage early in the third frame.But, in what had to be Weatherly's highlight of the evening, the Wreckers hit three-pointers on four straight possessions from four different players."Our girls are better against zone," said Kringe. "We have a bunch of shooters ... If we can set our feet we have some players that can hit shots."Hitting a shot was something Marian senior Kaya Knepper hasn't done all season, but down the stretch her teammates were feeding her the ball in hopes she would knock one down.With seconds remaining, she made a short jumper to get on the scoreboard."Kayla being able to score at the end was a good thing," said Brutto. "It was nice that our kids got her the ball and she hit the shot."Whildin finished with a game-high 19 points, including four treys in the opening half. Vanessa Whitecavage added three three-pointers in the opening two quarters and ended with 13 points. For Weatherly, Shelby Berger had 11 points and Polchin had eight.Marian won the JV game by a 34-14 score.WEATHERLYHeister 2-0-0-5, Caravella 1-0-0-2, Strizak 1-0-0-3, Scatton 0-0-0-0, Polchin 3-0-0-8, Berger 4-0-0-11, S. Hartz 1-2-4-4, L. Hartz 0-2-2-2, Gillott 1-1-2-3, Henry 0-0-0-0, Despirito 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 13-5-8-38.MARIANSalerno 1-0-0-3, Whildin 6-3-4-19, Fannick 1-0-0-2, Whitecavage 4-2-6-13, Correale 0-0-0-0, Shaud 1-1-3-3, Agosti 2-0-0-4, Capparell 2-1-2-5, Knepper 1-0-0-2, Erbe 0-0-0-0, Raabe 1-0-0-2, Karnish 3-0-0-6, Stoyer 1-0-0-2, Mooney 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 23-7-15-61.Weatherly 5 8 18 7 - 38Marian 21 17 12 11 - 61Three-pointers: Weatherly - Berger 3, Polchin 2, Heister 1, Strizak 1; Marian - Whildin 4, Whitecavage 3, Salerno 1.