Gracie Howard starting playing basketball for the Christian Fellowship Lady Eagles as a seventh grader and in that short span she has accomplished something few will ever do – she scored her 1,000th career point just nine games into her freshman season.
Howard needed 19 points coming into Saturday’s home game against Community Christian Academy to reach the milestone but according to Coach Trevor Jackson, was unaware how close she was.
“Gracie knows she’s a scorer, but she’s never kept up with it”, Jackson said. “That’s what makes Gracie so special is her humility.”
After falling behind 5-0 to CCA, Howard scored the first points for the Lady Eagles and they trailed until Lillian Burnett tied the game at 10-10. From there CFS built on their lead on a 10-0 run to finish the quarter up 20-10.
A 7-0 run on baskets by Alyssa Warren, Burnett, a Howard free throw and Burnett again gave them a 27-10 lead that ended on a 3-pointer from CCA’s Sarah Rogers. CFS finished out the half with a 35-21 lead and nine first half points from Howard which left her 10 away from 1,000.
The Lady Eagles led 52-30 at the end of the third quarter, scoring coming from Warren, Burnett and Howard who added who added another five to leave her four away and she took care of it by scoring the first two baskets of the fourth quarter. Play was stopped briefly to recognize her achievement.
They went on to win 68-47 to pick up their fourth game of the season and end a three-game losing streak. Burnett led with 22 points followed by Howard’s 19.
Howard is the first to reach the mark in the CFS girl’s program history and just the third to reach a career 1,000 points among both boys and girls – the two boys were Chris Johnson and Bryce Etheridge.
“It was her 66th high school game so it’s not out of the realm of possibilities she could get 2,000 points”, Jackson said.
CCA 10 11 9 17 – 47
CFS 20 15 17 16 – 68
CCA: Shaw 22, Cross 10, Rogers 5, Fraser 4, Clinard 2, Mallory 2, Holland 2
CFS: Burnett 22, Howard 19, Warren 12, R. Howard 8, Colburn 4, Jackson 2, Collie 1
CFS: FG: 28/61, 3 Pt 0/6, FT 12/23, Reb 42
