Westminster's Sadie Stipanovich Enters the Coveted 1,000 Point Club

Scoring 1,000 points in a basketball career is a remarkable achievement. With 7:22 left in the Westminster Christian Academy game with John Burroughs Friday night, senior Sadie Stipanovich of the host Wildcats netted that coveted last two points. The crowd behind the Cats bench roared with approval. Every single girl on the bench knew exactly when the moment would happen.

Stipanovich is the first Metro Conference player to reach the 1,000 point plateau since Delaney Hobbs did it for MICDS two winters ago. Hobbs is a student at Wake Forest University.

Just for good measure, this 6-foot-3 senior who will play next for Saint Louis University got two more points in the game, and the Cats crushed Burroughs, 65-27. A running fourth quarter clock brought the game to a quick conclusion.

Honoring the achievers

Prior to the start of the boys Burroughs/WCA game, Sadie and her dad Steve, coach of Westminster took a bow at center court. Everyone loved that too.

Stipanovich’s thoughts were mainly on just winning the game. “I heard I needed 21 points to get to a thousand. When I got it, obviously I knew because everyone cheered and that was really cool. But no, I really didn’t know. That was fun,” she said.

Her dad, former star at Mizzou and the NBA (Indiana Pacers) was so thrilled for his daughter’s achievement.

“You gotta be happy for Sadie. She’s a great kid and she’s really worked hard for this. She likes the game and she’s a hard worker and a good teammate and so much more than a basketball player obviously. It is always nice to see the fruits of your work pay off,” said the elder Stipanovich.

Westminster, a team sailing along with a 15-5 mark found all kinds of scorers in this run-away victory.

Stipanovich had 24; fiery guard Brook Cusumano had 14 and forward Adrienne Horn had 13. 

Off to a race horse start 

It was an easy win for WCA. They scored the first 12 points of the game. Sophomore track star Jordan McClendon banked in a two pointer to stop the bleeding at 2:42 of the first quarter. The Bombers couldn’t find their stroke in the first half and had just 8 points by halftime. The Cats led 37-8 at half and let the reserves play the entire fourth quarter.

Stipanovich has found his niche coaching girls basketball in Town & Country. “This is a great school. This is a great community.  A lot of Sadie’s friends came out just to see this moment and its fun to win in this kind of environment,” he said.

Westminster now hits a lull in the schedule. They played a lot of games recently, and don’t return to the court until a week from Tuesday. “That was very taxing. We had a lot of games over a three week stretch. We’ll rest and recuperate then get back to work,” said their coach.