Golden Mares’ senior scores 1,000th-career-point … for her uncle

Safe to say that Taylor Kreider has had a mixed-emotions kind of a week – on and off the basketball floor.

Solanco’s senior guard lost her uncle last week; he passed away on Sunday.

On Monday, Kreider found some sanctuary on the basketball court, where she dropped in a game-high 22 points against Lebanon, but Solanco lost its grip of sole possession of first place after an agonizing 55-51 overtime loss to the Cedars.

Still grieving and playing with a heavy heart for her uncle, and still stinging from the loss to Lebanon, Kreider and the Golden Mares found themselves in Elizabethtown on Wednesday night for a first-place showdown against the Bears, who were tied with Solanco for the lead.

And as fate would have it, Kreider – with all kinds of emotions swirling through her – needed 9 points for 1,000 points in her career – a career that saw her start for Solanco as a freshman.

With her family cheering from behind Solanco’s bench, Kreider got a much-needed double dose of good news Wednesday.

Kreider banked in a shot late in the first half to join the 1,000-career-point club. And Solanco earned a 47-35 victory over E-town, snapping the tie with the Bears and reclaiming sole possession of first place in Section 2.

Video of Kreider scoring 1,000th-career point here.

Solanco is 6-1 in league games and 9-3 overall. Kreider, who raised her career total to 1,009 points, is averaging a team-best 15.5 points and the Mares are playing just as well as anyone in the L-L League.

Updated L-L League girls’ 1,000-career-point list here.

I caught up with Kreider after the E-town game, and we chatted about the clutch win over the Bears, about hitting the milestone bucket for her uncle, about scoring 1,000 points in her career, and about where Solanco goes from here.

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

You can also download the Podcast and play it on your favorite mp3 device by clicking here.