FREDERICKTOWN — Fredericktown’s Cally Carpenter won the game within the game on Tuesday night in the Division V sectional tournament opener.
On the court, the Freddies’ senior helped lead her squad to a 57-29 pounding of 15th-seeded Columbus Academy.
In the record books, Carpenter tallied 24 points to bring her season total to 393. She became the school’s all-time scoring leader on Saturday when she netted 25 against Ridgedale.
“She broke the record in the first quarter,” coach Jared Pryor said. “I was glad to see it. It took the pressure off.”
The old record was 1,337 points. Carpenter now has 1,376 and counting.
“I didn’t really know until part of the way through the season that I was potentially going to get (the school scoring record),” Carpenter said.
When the record-breaking shot dropped through the net, it was the exclamation point on a superb career.
“It was really exciting,” Carpenter said. “The girls were happy for me and a lot of my family showed up.”
Looking back to the record-breaking night, Pryor said he felt lucky to be a part of it.
“I was just really proud. I’ve only been lucky enough to have her for two years,” Pryor said. “Her first two years I wasn’t coaching here yet and I have been so proud of the kid because she works so hard and she’s a really great leader in the locker room.”
Pryor said he was glad to see the record broken.
“She does all of the little things and so for her to hit a milestone like that, I was just really proud and honored to be in the gym to see the school record be broken.”
Carpenter’s leadership boosted the squad to a Knox Morrow Athletic Conference championship, earning Fredericktown the fifth-seed in the tournament draw.
The Freddies led their tourney opener wire to wire, opening a 23-7 lead by halftime.
“We set goals before the game,” Pryor said. “We talk about limiting turnovers and we have a goal every game of limiting the other team to less than 40 points.”
This game was never in doubt. Columbus Academy falls to 8-12 for the season.
Fredericktown is now 18-4 and will host Madison Plains in Friday night’s tournament clash.
“I would like to get to the district finals,” Carpenter said. “We can host the first three games at home so that is a huge advantage for us.”
