Senior guard is newest member of Montgomery’s 1,000-point club
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
Usually stoic, Marcia Voigt couldn’t hide how much the milestone meant.
The Montgomery High School senior is the picture of calm and collected even in the biggest game moments, but her voice cracked just a bit as she talked about surpassing the 1,000-point career mark with 3:40 left in the first quarter against Franklin on Tuesday.
”Words can’t describe it,” Voigt said. “I started coming to the high school games probably in fourth grade, I think. I’ve just kind of grown around it. That’s one thing that my dad and I always talked about — being able to get into high school and get my 1,000th.”
Voigt scored 18 points in a 44-41 win over Hopewell Valley on Saturday. It left her one point shy of 1,000. After missing a three-pointer from the left wing 2:20 into the Franklin game, she connected on her second shot, a 15-foot jump shot from the right baseline that touched only net.
”I tried not to think about it because if you think about it, it messes you up,” Voigt said. “I just played and it came when it came. I’m sure glad it came.
”When the season started, I knew I’d be nervous for it. During the games, it didn’t really hit me as a nervous pressure. I knew I was going to do it tonight. If not, you probably wouldn’t be seeing me now.”
Voigt became the fifth girls’ player in Cougar history to reach 1,000 points. The last was Megan Fox in 2005. Leslie Gooding, Lisa Robbins and Nicole Delarato are the others on MHS’ short list to the milestone.
”It definitely makes it that much more significant,” Voigt said. “It’s a great thing to do.”
The game was stopped after her milestone basket, and Voigt was presented with the game ball and posed for pictures with her parents, Chuck and Susan, along with third-year MHS coach Kevin Kretschy. After the game, the Cougars celebrated with a wealth of baked goods, including a giant cookie shaped like the number 1,000.
”Her parents are obviously very proud of her, and they should be,” said Kretschy, who had never coached a 1,000-point scorer before Voigt. “Her whole family is here. She’s got this fan club of little girls. The girls in the community look up to her from soccer and now basketball.
”This is a really nice achievement and not many girls get to achieve this. She’s a four-year starter. Every game she’s ever played, she’s started. It’s just really, really nice.”
Voigt reached 1,000 points as a steady contributor for the Cougars. She has been more than a scorer for Montgomery, though she provides plenty of big baskets.
”She’s 16-18 a game,” Kretschy said. “She rebounds well for a guard. She sees the floor and if I need her to score, she’ll score, and if I need her to defend, which I did tonight, she’ll do it. It took a little away from her offense, but she’s OK with that. If I need her to distribute, she distributes. She’s so coachable, it’s scary.”
Even though Voigt finished with just nine points, they were all important. Voigt’s first basket of the game cut Montgomery’s biggest deficit from eight points to 13-7. Her second basket of the game, a three-pointer, broke an 18-18 tie and gave the Cougars the lead for good with 4:50 left in the second quarter.
”We knew once we had the lead, we’d be OK,” Kretschy said. “It’s the second or third time at home we’ve struggled in the first quarter and it’s not like us. We’re usually a little more consistent in the first quarter. The good news is our second and third quarters were shut-down defense. They scored seven combined points.”
MHS’ Laura Coletti finished with 19 points and Jen Wysocki scored a career-high 16 points. Carlee Rosenthal added 10 points for the Cougars, who improved to 5-0 with the 58-34 win.
”A 1,000 isn’t as big as 1,000 if you don’t win the game,” Voigt said. “I’m glad that my teammates really stepped up tonight. Jen had a huge game. They really came through for me tonight.”
Voigt was happy to reach the accomplishment at home. She had nearly ended up surpassing the plateau at Hopewell.
”We had a plan if she did it there,” Kretschy said. “It was such a close game, I didn’t know how many points she had. I lost track. And it was such a close game we weren’t stopping the game because we had so many coaching strategies going on. I think it worked out perfectly.
”It would have been a lot less of a celebration. I told her parents, if she does it at home, we can do more. I didn’t want to insult any other team or coach and do it on their floor. We were going to stop the game, acknowledge it, do the ball exchange and that was it.”
Voigt started to realize she had a chance to reach her longtime goal at the beginning of her junior year. With two days between the Hopewell and Franklin games, Voigt had plenty of time to think about the coming moment.
”It was definitely a different feel,” she said. “I tried not to think about it. One of my friends from another school got her 1,000th, so I was talking to her about it. She put me at ease a little bit. I think I was able to feel relaxed because I needed one point.”
With the milestone reached, Voigt figures to be plenty relaxed as she helps the Cougars continue their unbeaten season. After playing Warren Hills on Thursday, MHS hosts Hamilton on Saturday.
”I’m going to score what I score, but now it’s all about the team like it’s always been,” she said. “We’re going to try to go as far as we can.”
Already, the Cougars celebrated a memorable moment courtesy of Voigt. The milestone was a long time in the making, and Voigt intends to enjoy it long after the brownies and cookies are gone from Tuesday night’s celebration.
”For the rest of my life,” she said.
Her voice cracked a bit again, and it was easy to see what the milestone meant to Marcia Voigt.