Fitzgerald Hits 1,000 – Sturgis East Rolls Over Cape Cod Academy

HYANNIS – The thing about true leaders is they don’t actively seek out attention for themselves.

For Sturgis East senior co-captain Meaghan Fitzgerald, her team winning last night’s game against Cape Cod Academy was infinitely more important. So with her team ahead by a slim margin at the half – 21-17 – and having only five points on the night thus far, the sure-handed forward locked in and got two jobs done for the price of one.

Sturgis East senior co-captain Meaghan Fitzgerald holds the game ball after scoring her 1,000th and 1,001st career points in the third quarter of last night's 59-21 win over Cape Cod Academy.  Photo courtesy of Jeremy Hatstat

Sturgis East senior co-captain Meaghan Fitzgerald holds the game ball after scoring her 1,000th and 1,001st career points in the third quarter of last night’s 59-21 win over Cape Cod Academy.
Photo courtesy of Jeremy Hatstat

She dumped in an unheard of 19 third quarter points to help her team ensure victory and nailed her 1,000th career point in the process. The game was played at the Hyannis Youth and Community Center.

Fitzgerald came into last night’s game with 982 career points, had just 987 points by halftime before she went on an individual scoring binge not seen this entire season on Cape Cod by any high school basketball player when she rattled off what for many players would be a career high game total in just 8:00 minutes of action.

She had 17 points under her belt when she drained a mid-range jumper for her 1,000th and 1,001st career points and the game was momentarily halted as her team swarmed around her and presented her with the game ball and the media on hand zoomed in. After the milestone was hit and the ensuing celebration completed, Fitzgerald wrapped up her night’s scoring with a three-pointer and field goal for a game-high 24 points.

Fitzgerald became the second Sturgis East player in as many weeks to hit the prestigious 1,000-point plateau, following in the footsteps of Sturgis East boys’ captain Jake Tobey who hit 1,000 last week.

Fitzgerald’s third quarter effort actually ensured an eventual  59-21 win for the Storm and helped her team inch to within two games of securing a postseason berth and allowed interim head coach Nick Conti the opportunity to put more players in the game for the entirety of the fourth quarter. Every senior for Sturgis East would end up scoring on Senior Night.

A better moment to reach that milestone and turn in the best single quarter of her career could not have been scripted beforehand. A total of 10 Sturgis East players scored in the game, including every senior.

Now that she's hit the vaunted 1,000-career point milestone, Sturgis East senior co-captain Meaghan Fitzgerald can focus on helping her team get to the postseason. Sean Walsh/Capecod.com sports

Now that she’s hit the vaunted 1,000-career point milestone, Sturgis East senior co-captain Meaghan Fitzgerald can focus on helping her team get to the postseason.
Sean Walsh/Capecod.com sports

“She found the groove and rang in the 1,000 like we all knew she would,” Conti said. “She was determined to set the record tonight… all of the seniors scored tonight to make them a huge part of the moment.”

Sturgis East seniors Nicole Collucci and Cat Cameron each had two points, Zoe Wright had five points (including her first three-pointer of the season), Maggie Randall added six points and senior co-captain Emma Nemes dumped in eight.

Victoria Alberico led all Seahawks with a team-high eight points and Becca White added six for the visitors.

Sturgis East is now 7-8 on the season while Cape Cod Academy falls to 1-13. East has a pair of make-up games next week.

— Sean Walsh is the sports editor for www.capecod.com. His email is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @coachwalshccbm

 

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