Pioneers’ guard - and 1,000-point scorer - chats about state semifinal win

What a night for Danielle Rittenhouse.

On Wednesday, Lampeter-Strasburg’s senior guard not only joined the 1,000-career-point club – becoming just the eighth player in the history of the program to hit that magic milestone – but she popped in 19 points and was tenacious on defense and the boards for the Pioneers, who topped General McLane 69-59 in a PIAA Triple-A girls’ basketball state semifinal game at Central Cambria High School in Ebensburg.

Rittenhouse came into the game with 996, and she hit 1,000 early in the first quarter, helping L-S bolt to an early lead.

Didn’t mention this in my game story, but when the final seconds were ticking off the clock, L-S forced a steal and the basketball ended up in Rittenhouse’s hands for the final, oh, three or four seconds.

It was hilarious watching her run around trying to dribble the clock out, because, simultaneously, she was looking for an open teammate, trying to avoid any number of General McLane defenders, and looking up at the clock to see how much time was left.

And when the clock hit triple zeros, the look on her face was priceless.

She describes that feeling here.

I caught up with Ms. Rittenhouse after the game near mid-court, where she was cradling some very nice pink flowers she was rewarded for getting her 1,000th-point – not to mention helping L-S reach Saturday’s state-championship game against Archbishop Carroll.

You can listen to the interview by clicking on the ‘play’ button above.

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