By Allison Goldsmith
I&M Sports Editor
Angela Paterson has another basketball to add to her trophy case. In front of family and friends and a packed-to-capacity home crowd against Provincetown Saturday, the senior co-captain passed Kari Harvey as the all-time leading scorer in Nantucket girls basketball history.
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Photo by Nicole Harnishfeger
Angela Paterson hugs her mother Kelly, with athletic director Chris Maury, left, and sister Alicia Paterson, right, after becoming the girls basketball all-time leading scorer Saturday against Provincetown. |
When the soft baseline jumper found the bottom of the net in the third quarter, the crowd, which had been counting down to the milestone, erupted in celebration. Paterson was swarmed by her teammates, coaches and family as the game was stopped to present the leading scorer with a celebratory basketball marking the achievement.
“I remember I took two deep threes because I was getting very anxious. They were trying to box-and-one me. Finally, I just drove it in and took a little baseline-jumper,” said Paterson, who needed 24 points break Harvey’s 2003 mark of 1,338.
The stands were packed as the community came together to promote breast cancer awareness and raise money for the Marla Ceely Lamb Cancer Travel Fund, a cause that hits close to home for the entire Whalers family, especially the Paterson’s.
“I thought it was amazing. I didn’t realize how many people were there until I looked in the stands. The gym was packed,” Paterson said. “Even though it was a blow-out game, all of the fans were cheering loud because they knew it was for a good cause.”
Paterson’s father Bob came up with the fundraising idea to give back to the fund that has helped his wife Kelly through cancer treatments for the past three and a half years.
Whalers basketball has played a large part in Kelly Paterson’s battle against the disease, and Saturday’s combination of community support and goal-reaching achievement was a touching moment for all in attendance.
It was in middle school that Angela Paterson looked up at the 1,000-point banner and knew she wanted to be on it. From the Boys & Girls Club to the Whalers to AAU basketball, Paterson and her family have put countless hours into the game.
“It feels pretty cool to be the top person on the girls side. Maybe little kids will look up now, like I did, and be like, I want to beat her. Maybe someone will eventually beat it,” Paterson said, encouraging young players to keep shooting if they want to reach her mark. “I worked hard and played the game day by day and it just kind of happened.”
Paterson got a solid start as a freshman, scoring 295 points in her first season on the varsity. With a deep run into the playoffs in her sophomore season, Paterson scored 339 points in 24 games and 397 in 23 games as a junior last year. She scored her 1,000th point last season in a first-round playoff game, also against Provincetown.
Through 20 games this season she has scored 357 points and with 1,388 points to her credit, has all intentions of piling up even more through the playoffs.
“She deserves to be the all-time leader. She is a great player. She plays it all the time. She has had a lot of good teammates a long the way, but if you look at her career record over the last four years, we haven’t lost too many games. And I think she is a big reason for it, not the sole reason, but she gives you a big presence offensively,” girls basketball head coach Willis Ferreira said.
In Paterson’s four years with the varsity team, the Whalers have played to a successful record of 75-14. They earned back-to-back 20-win seasons, with trips to the Division IV South finals and semi-finals. This season they set the mark for most wins in a regular season by a Nantucket High School girls basketball team and have all intentions of beating the total season win record of 20 during the playoffs.
“I think I am going to remember each year having different teams and different chemistry. I have always had good chemistry with my teams, so I am going to miss that a lot, hanging out with my team especially since we travel so much together,” Paterson said.
“The kids around her become better players playing with her and she has become such a complete player this year. She plays the whole game, she plays good ‘D’ and she is a teammate too. She is always looking to pass first. She has come a long way in four years, that’s for sure,” Ferreira said.
“Mostly I want to get to the (TD BankNorth) Garden. That’s what we are going to work for,” she said of her team shooting for the Division IV semifinals.
As her senior season comes to a close in the next couple of weeks, it is not the end for the star shooter. Paterson has been accepted to both Westfield State and Western New England College. While she hasn’t chosen between the two schools, she has every intention of continuing her basketball career and reaching more milestones at either one of the Division III programs.
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