Noyes tallies for a rare achievement

Senior scores 1,000th point.

By: Mike Molaro
   Reaching 1,000 points is one of the most difficult and exciting milestones a scholastic athlete can attain.
   But when the character and class of that athlete supersede the numbers, that achievement takes on even greater meaning.
   When Hopewell Valley Central High School ‘s Suzie Noyes became just the fifth Lady Bulldog in history to top that magical mark last Friday, she not only added her stellar career to the record books but punctuated the fact that good things do, indeed, happen to good people.
   "Suzie is a special type of player," HoVal head coach Jeff Losch said after the senior guard and co-captain sank a left-handed lay up with 6:39 remaining in the first quarter of the 54-36 triumph over Allentown to put her at 1,000 points. "She averages 16 points a game but she does so many other things that you don’t see in the newspapers. At practice, she’s the first one to run us through our drills. She leads our team in deflections, blocks, assists, steals. She really does everything."
   What made the evening even more special was that she was able to accomplish the feat with her two brothers who attend the University of South Carolina , Dan and Brian, watching from the stands in the Dawg Pound.
   Defeating the Redbirds also was key as HoVal won its third straight game and seventh of its last eight.
   "My brothers are my biggest fans," Noyes said. "I played with them in the driveway of our house. They beat me up and made me tough. My brothers and my family have played a huge part in getting me to where I am. Winning the game was more important. We knew it (1,000 points) would happen. We were focused on winning the game. It wasn’t about me at all. It was about the team."
   The Lady Bulldog guard could’ve had her 1,000th point in the 57-37 home victory over Nottingham on Jan. 30 but took herself out of the game with 3:43 remaining after scorching the Northstars for 28 points.
   "Tonight wasn’t about me getting 1,000" she said after the Lady Bulldogs downed the ‘Stars. "It was all about the team and I didn’t want to take away from that."
   Noyes joins WNBA Commissioner Val Ackerman (1977 HoVal graduate; 1,466 points), Bernadette Powell (1980;1,255), Kelley Cramp (2001; 1,169), and Kristy Cramp (205; 1,143) as the only girls in Lady Bulldog history to hit the 1,000-point mark.
   "I’m so excited to reach that milestone," added Noyes. "It was great to see the support from the fans, my family, the coaches, and my teammates. I always heard the whispers that I could do it, but I never thought of that."Early in this season, people started telling me I was getting close and when I was about 100 points away the interest was increasing. Coach Losch told the team a few games ago that it was going to happen. I didn’t want us to lose our focus because we are playing so well."
   Noyes is very aware that reaching the 1,000-point plateau is a combination of raw talent and the contributions of the other girls wearing the HoVal black and yellow.
   "Without the team, I wouldn’t have been able to do any of this," she added. "I could never, ever do what I have done without my teammates doing what they’ve done for me."
   Although her name is cemented the Lady Bulldog annals, it may take awhile before the enormity of the feat sets in.
   "It seems so unreal that only five HoVal girls have done this," Noyes said. "I am very close to the Cramp family. Kelly has also scored 1,000 points in college and Kristy will do so shortly. Val is the WNBA Commissioner. Hitting 1,000 points in high school is a tremendous milestone, but when you look at what the other four women have done, I hope I can come close to that."
   Noyes, who dropped soccer as a freshman to concentrate on basketball, is also an all-star in the class room with a 95 average while carrying honors classes. She will study political science or pre-law in the fall at Lebanon Valley College.
   Wanting to be remembered as a "team player," Noyes and the Lady Bulldogs still have a lot of basketball left. "We want to win the county title and do well in the states," she said. "We are going for good seeds."
   And they’ll do it just like they’ve done everything else: As a team.