SHAMOKIN - Shamokin's four seniors have played together since the sixth grade.
As the quartet of Tara Sabotchick, Summer Reigle, Mary Kate Kelley and Hannah Martin took turns cutting down the net after a 73-26 win over Midd-West, completing an undefeated home schedule and clinching the No. 1 seed for the District 4 Class AAA tournament to go along with their HAC-I title, head coach Bill Callahan made sure that they knew their mission wasn't done.
"The season isn't over yet," Callahan said. "Our biggest games are coming up."
The four have been steady all season, and their entire careers for that matter, and started the game on Friday at the Shamokin Area Annex riding high on the emotion of the Senior Night festivities.
Shamokin came out and hit the Mustangs hard, with all four seniors getting in on the act.
Sabotchick hit the game's first shot, and before anyone had a chance to blink the Indians were taking a 26-5 lead into the second quarter.
"I was very impressed with our girls how they came out and played, and big time," Callahan said. "I thought we were sharp in the first half, and I was very impressed with us coming out and playing that hard in a game. That was exciting to see."
The Indians cruised the rest of the way, holding Midd-West to single digits as a team in three of the four quarters, while a total of 10 Indians scored and the entire bench played.
Sabotchick scored 16. Reigle matched that sum and added eight rebounds, and Kelley and Martin chipped in with nine and eight points, respectively.
"They're special," Callahan said. "They've worked hard, and they've really played well this year, and it's been a combination. Tara has been our leader. Summer has been coming around, and then Hannah and Mary Kate have been the difference - every big game we've played the two of them have stepped up and played well. You couldn't ask for a better group."
Sabotchick has already eclipsed the 1,300-point plateau, and Reigle is, by quick calculations, 112 points away from cracking the 1,000-point mark herself.
The Indians have two regular season games remaining, at Danville and at Lewisburg, before the District 4 playoffs begin.
"We play two games next week, then off for two weeks and then play in the semifinals and see what happens," Callahan said.
Game Summary
MIDD-WEST (26) - Kuhns 3 0-0 8, Beiter 0 1-2 1, Folk 2 0-0 6, Kratzer 0 0-2 0, Camp 2 0-2 4, Spade 2 0-0 5, Sharp 1 0-0 2, Woodring 0 0-2 0. Totals 10 1-8 26.
SHAMOKIN (73) - S. Pancher 3 1-5 7, Sabotchick 7 0-0 16, Reigle 7 2-2 16, Kelley 3 0-0 8, Martin 3 1-1 9, Yacko 2 0-0 4, Breslin 0 0-0 0, Zalar 1 0-0 3, Bonshock 1 2-4 4, Templar 2 0-0 4, C. Pancher 1 0-0 2, Foor 0 0-0 0, Forbes 0 0-0 0, Lindstrom 0 0-0 0. Totals 30 6-12 73.
Midd-West 5 13 5 3 - 26
Shamokin 26 19 20 8 - 73
3-point FGs: Kuhns 2, Folk 2, Spade, Sabotchick 2, Kelley 2, Martin 2, Zalar.