For the second time this season, teammates and self-described best friends have reached the 1,000 point mark for their careers.
The first pair to do it was Kim Andruscavage and Ranotta Ahrensfield at Mount Carmel.
The most recent was Mikhail Whitcomb and Kasey Long at Line Mountain.
There are several interesting and tangential facts as it relates to these dynamic duos.
Each did it remarkably close to one another (in the case of Line Mountain on the same night), the odds of which are astronomically high, but it shows how intertwined the success of each pair has been.
All four started as freshmen.
Both teams are undefeated and on track for league and possibly district championships, as they were last year.
Lastly, and probably the most out-there fact, is that both schools also had a pair of 1,000-yard rushers this past football season (Meyrick Lamb and Cody Shustack and Mount Carmel; and Kyle Troutman and Marty Beninsky at Line Mountain). This one is in no way related to basketball, but is indicative of the way cycles of athletes come through schools.
While we're sure it's happened somewhere before, we can't come up with any instances of the double-thousand in football and basketball happening in the same year.
Ahrensfield and Andruscavage accom-
plished the 1K mark earlier this year in back-to-back games against Central Columbia and Lewisburg.
Combine the feats with the Tornadoes' success the last few years and you have a pair of very excited girls.
"It's a great feeling for me and my best friend to get 1,000," Andruscavage said. "We knew we'd have targets on our back this season."
The Tornadoes have deflected any bullets aimed at them this season and are a perfect 13-0, but that could be all for naught if Mount Carmel swings and misses in the playoffs.
"It's been a very exciting season," Ahrensfield said. "It's our senior year, and we want to make this our best year."
Line Mountain is answering any questions about its run through the playoffs last year by being the prohibitive favorite to win the Tri-Valley League and become the top seed for the District 4 Class A tournament.
"Since seventh grade we wanted our team on the banner, and not getting it last year drove us a little bit more over the summer," Whitcomb said.
"Our motto is to 'Keep the dream alive.'"
With the 1,000th point out of the way for both girls, they disagreed just slightly on what it means for the rest of the season.
"A little bit more relaxed," Long said, while nearly simultaneously Whitcomb answered, "Excited."
Line Mountain's pair had a little more work to do this year to get there, but have put the Eagles on their backs.
Long needed 251 points, while Whitcomb needed 228, and somehow, whether they believed it would always happen this way or not, they did it on the same night.
There have already been claims that this is the first time it's happened in Pennsylvania.
That may be true, but basketballs have been bounced scholastically in the state since before Prohibition, and for us to agree with first-time ever is tough without documentation.
The four also make up the top of the area's individual scoring list this year as well.
It's only fitting that this total accomplishment happened this year, which we are hereby officially dubbing "The Year of the 1,000th Point."
Because fifth on the area scoring list is Lourdes' Christina Perles, who at last count needs 174 points this season to join the club.