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PLUMSTED: Grand night for Warriors’ Bausher

First New Egypt girl to reach 1,000 points

By Justin Feil, The Packet Group
   It seems only fitting that Emily Bausher should become the first New Egypt girls basketball player to score 1,000 points.
   ”It definitely is,” said Warriors head coach Matt Brogan. “She’s a perfect example of a student-athlete. She’s the perfect role model. She’s been a three-sport starter for four years.”
   Bausher, who at the end of the fall field hockey season signed her National Letter of Intent to play softball for Lehigh University next year, reached the 1,000-point milestone with a corner jump shot less than one minute into a 51-28 win over Burlington City last Tuesday night. Coming into the game, she needed only one point to hit the milestone.
   ”It felt really good,” said Bausher, the senior who finished with 19 points in the win. “I always have the support of my teammates and Coach Brogan behind me. I always have their support, so it was like what I could do for them.
   ”We’ve been talking about it for a while. Everyone has been really excited about it and really supportive too. It was great to have everyone behind me.”
   The game was stopped 45 seconds into it to honor Bausher’s accomplishment. She was touched to receive flowers and a Build-a-Bear basketball player for reaching the milestone.
   ”It shows the support and compassion we have on the team,” Bausher said, “and the things we do for each other.”
   Bausher has already shared plenty of thrills with some of her same basketball teammates during her scholastic career. Last spring, she became only the third pitcher in state history to strike out more than 400 batters in a season — this after the distance to the plate was increased to aid batters — as the Warriors softball team won the Group I state championship. This fall, she was a part of the Warriors field hockey team that went 16-3, reached the Central Jersey Group I semifinals and achieved a top-15 ranking from the Star-Ledger newspaper. Scoring 1,000 points is another thrill.
   ”That’s definitely one of my memorable aspects of high school,” Bausher said. “We have a great team. The girls make it so much better. It’s the best experience playing with them and for them.”
   Bausher could enjoy her moment all the more because it came in part of the Warriors’ fast start. New Egypt improved to 4-1 with a 38-25 win over Florence on Friday behind 17 points from Bausher and 10 more from Morgan Knigge. Their lone loss came against Northern Burlington after a five-day layoff, in a game when Bausher finished one point shy of her milestone. It didn’t take long to reach it against Burlington City.
   ”It was definitely good to get it out of the way in the beginning where we can just focus on the game,” Bausher said. “We came out with an insane run in the first quarter. That helped a lot.
   ”We have the highest expectations for our team this year with everyone back,” she added. “We know how good we can be and our potential. Now all we have to do is live up to it.”
   So far, so good — for Bausher and her teammates. Opponents continue to heap attention on stopping Bausher, but that’s not so easy anymore.
   ”Usually teams do tend to focus in, but this year, we have so many more people stepping up,” Bausher said. “Haley (Anderson) has been getting rebounds and scoring as well, Morgan has been having big games and shutting down their big girls which helps. Cortney (Natalicchio) is doing good job of bringing the ball up and Julie (Ciak) on defense.
   ”There’s obviously that mentality that I need to perform for my team. It’s not so much a points number for me. As long as our team comes out on top, as long as our team performs its best, I’ll be happy.”
   For the Warriors to be at their best, however, Bausher does have to provide some offense. She’s been doing it since her freshman year.
   ”Emily is our leading scorer,” Brogan said. “She has to put up points. She has a good supporting cast, and they’re doing a nice job this year. But she has to score for us to do well.
   ”She puts up big numbers a lot. Her sophomore year against Bordentown, we lost, 40-36, and I think she had 32. So she’s capable of putting up huge numbers. She can get in the 20s any night. She’s such a team player that sometimes she passes up shots to get teammates an open shot.”
   Bausher has been so focused on winning that she hadn’t even been giving her chase of 1,000 points any thought. She was just happy to get in another season of basketball.
   ”I just go out and do what I do to support my teammates and it came,” she said. “I didn’t say, I’m going to score 1,000 points in my high school career. It’s just something that came with my team and the previous teams I’ve played on.”
   Those teams are likely to remember playing with Bausher for years to come. She stands out in the minds of those that have had the opportunity to work with her, regardless of her sport.
   ”She’s just a phenomenal athlete,” Brogan said. “She’s such a great softball and field hockey player too, and to be able to play basketball for fun and put up 1,000 points is incredible.
   ”She’s got such speed. And she’s improved so much. She’s listened and improved her scoring ability.”
   Brogan had the tiniest fear that Bausher might not play this season after signing to play softball, but he never brought it up. He knew better.
   ”I think the only way she wouldn’t have played was if they said, we’re going to take your scholarship if you play,” Brogan said. “She’s just a competitor. I don’t think she wanted to stop. She’s a throwback. She’s a high school athlete who goes out and competes and does well in three sports.”
   And for three seasons for four years, Bausher has been doing some incredible stuff. Her softball strikeouts put her in elite company in the state; and her 1,000 points made New Egypt history.
   ”They’re comparable things, but not in the aspect of the physical part of it,” Bausher said. “It’s more comparable because of the teams behind it. I had the same support from the softball team when we won the state championship. I see the same support and compassion in these girls that I saw in those girls.
   ”This accolade would mean nothing without the support of my team. They’re really good girls and the coach is supporting me. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”