Shalom's Stains, Harris each score 1,000th point

MARION - It was a historic night at Shalom Christian.

Not only did Jonah Stains become the first junior in Shalom's history to reach 1,000 career points, he also did it on the same night as Lydia Harris became just the third girl in Flames' history to hit the mark.

"That's special for this school to be able to have people come out and see a night like this," Shalom girls coach Brad Eby said. "It's not something you see very often at any school, let alone a little one like ours. To have that kind of accomplishment on one night is great."

Harris came into Monday needing just 16 points, while Stains' magic number was 19.

Both Harris and Stains started strong, but needed time to settle into the game and shake off the nerves. Harris and Stains both finished with more than their required numbers. What was even more ironic was the fact they both hit the milestone on the front end of a pair of free throws, and they both did it during Shalom wins. The girls defeated Grace Academy, 45-35, and the boys won, 60-43, in a Mason-Dixon Christian Conference doubleheader.

"This doesn't happen too much in a small school because not a lot of people go here," Harris said. "It's pretty awesome that it somehow ended up being the same night. This will be something I'll remember forever."

Harris came out of the gate strong, scoring nine of her points in the first quarter. She had the first six points of the game for Shalom (18-1, 12-0 MDCC). But then she went a bit cold; she scored only two points over the course of the next two quarters and still needed a point to get to 1,000 with under two minutes to play.

"It was more that they were playing their defense a lot differently," Eby said. "They were overplaying her in double coverage, so it relieved some of our other players for open looks. Before the game, I asked Lydia if she wanted to win or if she wanted the points - she said she wanted the win. The points were going to come for her, so we didn't play any different."

In an odd and frenzied moment nearing the final buzzer, Grace Academy was slammed with a technical foul, and even though Harris had missed back-to-back free throws earlier in the frame, her name was called. She sunk them both, but it was the first that sent the Flame faithful into chaos.

"She is a very good foul shooter, but I also wanted her to get her 1,000 points," Eby said. "She does usually step to the occasion when the pressure is on the line."

Harris said, "I just felt like it was going to go in. I settled down and took my shot. I really didn't know how I was going to feel about getting 1,000, but it felt really good."

Much like Harris, Stains started the game strong and racked up 14 points by halftime. A layup midway through the third quarter put him at 999 points, and he stayed there for more than three minutes.

"We didn't necessarily game plan for Jonah to get a lot of points," Shalom boys coach Danley Shank said. "He's skilled offensively - obviously to score 1,000 points you have to be skilled offensively. He might've pressed a little bit, but for the most part, he stayed within himself. He did what got him the other 900-and-some. We played good team basketball, and he got his points."

Nearing the end of the third quarter with a five-point lead for the Flames (16-6, 9-3 MDCC), Stains drove hard to the basket and was fouled. Like Harris, he nailed his first free throw to achieve the milestone.

"I told (my team) I didn't want it to end on a foul shot, but that was just because I thought I would be so nervous that I would miss it," Stains said. "But I just took a deep breath, and it went in. I couldn't stop smiling. I've been looking at that as a goal since my freshman year, and I finally got it."

Stains may now set his sights on the school scoring record, which is 1,400 points and held by Tori Yoder, who graduated in 2014.

NOTES: For the girls, Harris was the only Flame to finish in double figures, but Brooke Emge contributed nine points ... Brooke Kuhns pulled down 10 rebounds ... Stains capped off his night with a double-double, finishing with 25 points and 12 rebounds ... Cameron Roseman scored 11 points, including a pair of key buckets to extend Shalom's fourth-quarter lead from 6 points to double figures ... Barrett Eshbaugh also had a double-double with 11 points and 11 boards.

GIRLS

Shalom Christian 45, Grace Academy 35 

Grace (35)

Lindsey Bedregal 5 0-0 11, Taylor Morgan 3 0-0 6, Hanna Loudin 2 1-5 5, Hannah Colvin 5 1-2 11, Amanda Eby 1 0-2 2, Dede Wright 0 0-0 0, Lily Cole 0 0-0 0. Totals — 16 2-9 35.

Shalom (45)

Brooke Kuhns 1 1-2 3, Lexy Poe 2 1-2 6, Lydia Harris 6 3-6 18, Brooke Emge 3 2-3 9, Kylie Eby 1 0-0 2, Paige Hoover 2 0-0 5, Lauren Stains 1 0-0 2, Grace Banfe 0 0-0 0. Totals — 16 7-13 45.

Grace Acad. _ 8 _ 9 _ 12 _ 6 _ — _ 35

Shalom Chr. _ 13 _ 9 _ 8 _ 15 _ — _ 45

3-point goals — GA 1 (Bedregal), SC 4 (Poe, Harris, Emge, Hoover).

BOYS

Shalom Christian 60, Grace Academy 43 

Grace (43)

Mark Koontz 0 6-8 6, Harrison Barger 0 0-0 0, Logan Kaetzel 1 0-0 3, Bret Fogle 10 2-2 26, Kyle Daya 2 0-0 6, Shane Clever 1 0-0 2, Cody Taylor 0 0-0 0, Vilgirdas Paskevicius 0 0-0 0. Totals — 14 8-10 43.

Shalom (60)

Chase Martin 2 1-3 5, Barrett Eshbaugh 4 3-4 11, Cameron Roseman 5 0-2 11, Jonah Stains 7 10-11 25, Micah Lehman 4 0-0 8, Josh Coldsmith 0 0-0 0, Travis West 0 0-0 0, Coby Roseman 0 0-0 0, Jacob Nicholas 0 0-0 0, Connor Tiedemann 0 0-0 0. Totals — 22 14-20 60.

Grace Acad. _ 6 _ 10 _ 20 _ 7 _ — _ 43

Shalom Chr. _ 13 _ 13 _ 16 _ 18 _ — _ 60

3-point goals — GA 7 (Fogle 4, Daya 2, Kaetzel), SC 2 (Roseman, Stains).