LM's Whitcomb, Long achieve 1,000 point mark in same game 'Two By Two K'

MANDATA - There were a lot of balloons, lots of hugs and lots of points.

In the rarest of feats, Line Mountain's Mikhail Whitcomb and Kasey Long each scored their 1,000th career point in the Eagles' 55-28 Tri-Valley League victory over Greenwood on January 20.

Besides the fanfare surrounding the personal milestones, the win put Line Mountain two games ahead of the Wildcats in the league standings after the season sweep.

"That is a huge win in the league. It puts us two games up," Line Mountain head coach Mike Reed said.

Because the Eagles jumped out to a 10-0 lead to start the game and were never in any serious danger, the night really belonged to Line Mountain's version of the Bobbsey Twins.

Whitcomb entered the game needing 11. At the 4:18 mark of the third quarter, she drove through the paint for a layup and her 1,000th point.

Celebration ensued.

Long, needing 21 at the start of the game, was a little bit more of a longshot to join the club, but a 10-point third quarter went a long way in making that happen. And at 6:12 in the fourth quarter, Long connected on a 16-foot jumper to make the night doubly special.

And yes, there was more celebration.

"That had to be one of the most fun games I've been a part of," Reed said. "Kasey and Mikhail, coming up we called them Frick and Frack and they were always together. For them to do this in the same game, I've never seen it done before."

Call it a premonition, or call it luck, Whitcomb saw it coming.

"To be honest with you, I always thought we'd get it on the same day. I'm not even lying," Whitcomb said and put her right hand up to God.

"We do everything together."

The pair can thank junior Jade London for starting the night on the right note.

She took the Wildcats' top scorer, Salene Shaffer, completely out of the game and started too many fast breaks to count.

"Jade on the top of the point against Shaffer really wore her out," Reed said. "She did a heck of a job as the unsung hero."

Shaffer had been leading the league in scoring and wound up with just one 3-pointer.

As each basket dropped for Whitcomb and Long, the crowd roared more, building as the girls' point totals had for the past four years.

"Our fans really helped us get pumped up," Long said.

Long finished with 24 points, eight rebound and eight steals, while Whitcomb finished with 14, leaving the two girls tied at exactly 1,003.

Macy Bethge added 10 points and seven rebounds in what turned into a rout after the Eagles won the first meeting with Greenwood 44-39 earlier this year.

"I thought we could beat them, but I never thought we could do that to them. They're just too good of a team," Reed said.

Line Mountain, now sitting at 14-0, is proving to be a pretty good team itself, and now boasts not one, but two 1,000-point scorers.

(Dan MacArthur is the former Dan Burda, a sports writer at The News-Item for the past 4½ years who recently had his last name legally changed.)

Sign up for Text Alerts

Sign up for e-mail newsletters