GRANITEQUARRY — For East Rowan senior Nicole Loggins it was a night that was both
great and grating.Talk
about mixed emotions. Talk about best of times and worst of times. Talk about Loggins.
Loggins, East’s Western
Carolina-bound standout guard, reached the 1,000-point milestone early on Tuesday night
and did it just the way it would have happened if she could have written the script.
Loggins took a pass from
buddy/classmate Brooke Misenheimer, who has had a hand in a bunch of those 1,000 points,
and sent her patented 3-point shot from the left wing cleanly through the net against
East’s biggest rival — West Rowan.
Loggins needed eight points for
the coveted mark when the night started. She got them quickly. She hit a 3-pointer a
minute into the game for 995, connected on a tough pull-up jumper midway through the first
quarter for 997, then nailed the dramatic milestone-reaching 3 to hit 1,000 on the nose
with more than 25 minutes still to play in the game.
“Going out there, I was just
a little nervous,” said Loggins, who became the fifth Mustang girl to reach the
magical mark. “But not really nervous-nervous-nervous.”
When the shot went in, the huge
crowd — complete with banners and posters supporting Loggins— went bonkers.
Misenheimer rushed over and embraced her teammate, followed by the rest of the Mustang
players and coaches.
An ecstatic Loggins saluted the
crowd and received a commemorative ball, then leaped on the back of the Mustang mascot for
a ride. The Mustang galloped to the other side of the gym and deposited Loggins in front
of her parents for some more teary-eyed hugs.
“I’ve got to thank the
Mustang (Christin Ingold),” said Loggins. “She’s never been in here for a
basketball game. It’s hot in that suit. Christin smothered herself for me. I was
afraid maybe I’d break my ankle riding on her back, but she did great.”
So far so good. This is the way
these 1,000-point affairs are supposed to go. Lots of fun for the guest of honor.
But then came a wave of bad stuff.
Loggins’ 1,000-point bomb
brought her team within 13-12 and it appeared to be anyone’s game.
Afterward, though, East got blown
out as it hasn’t been in many years. West scored the next six points after
Loggins’ hoop. The Falcons stretched the lead to 13 by halftime and won going away
56-27.
“Maybe,” said East coach
Randy Bingham, “we got too fired up.”
Loggins would make only one more
shot after her historic one — a jumper with 1:44 left in the game for No. 1,002. That
bucket had little bearing on the game’s outcome, but did keep alive Loggins’
10-game string of consecutive double-figure scoring efforts and also pushed her past Lisa
Arey (1,000 points) into fourth place on East’s all-time scoring list.
But Loggins knew, even as she made
that historic 3, that East was in trouble.
“I actually had to take that
shot three of four feet behind the 3-point line,” she said. “That’s how
tough West’s defense was.”
West’s defense, with rangy
Kate Goodman guarding Loggins as part of a triangle-and-two alignment, stayed tough all
night. Loggins was 0-for-4 in the second quarter and didn’t take a shot at all in the
third.
“I forced some shots in the
last quarter,” Loggins said. “I didn’t want to, but no one else was
shooting. We tried every offense we had; nothing worked. We ran shuffle, motion and all
our cuts, but West stopped everything.”
Like everyone else in the gym,
Bingham was stunned by the lopsided loss, but said the setback should in no way put a
damper on Loggins’ night.
“I’m just glad she got
the thousand and got it here for the home fans,” he said. “I think when people
around here think about Nicole, they’re going to remember someone who was, above all,
dedicated.
“She worked hard to get to
where she is. I don’t know anyone in Rowan County who’s had a basketball in
their hands more than Nicole over the last four years. And her hard work got her a college
scholarship. She’s an excellent role model.”
Loggins raised her scoring
averages from 5.8 ppg as a freshman to 10.5 ppg as a sophomore. She averaged 16.2 ppg and
won county player of the year honors as a junior. This year, she’s averaging 14.2 ppg
after five games.
After her game, Loggins stood in
the hallway, chatting with fellow 1,000-point scorers Kari Schenk (West) and Megan
Honeycutt (North Rowan). On the outside, Loggins was smiling. Inside, her team’s loss
was still smarting a bit.
“I wanted to win this game as
much any game I’ve ever played in,” she said. “I would have gladly not
reached the 1,000 points tonight if we could have won the game.”
That’s when her dad, Wesley,
who used to play football for West, put things in perspective.
“Some nights,” he told
her with a smile, “the basketball gods have a sense of humor.”
They certainly did on Tuesday
night when Loggins never knew whether to laugh or cry.
The future is bright for Loggins,
though. From here on out, there will be a lot more smiling than frowning. |
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